Can Bondee be SEA’s unexpected social media champ?

Dressing up in cute avatars, floating to meet your friends, finding messages in bottles – Bondee, a social app from Metadream, is looking to shake things up, creating quite a bit of online buzz across Southeast Asia.

Photo credit: Bondee

Launched just a couple of weeks ago in select countries in Asia, Bondee has already racked up more than 1 million downloads on Google Play.

Bondee is looking to break the social media mold by offering users 3D avatars, rooms to decorate, and activities with friends –  features similar to those found in video games like The Sims and Animal Crossing.

The app was officially and quietly launched on January 17 and is available in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea.

It even took the top spot on the Apple App Store’s social networking rankings for the first four countries, according to an NME report. Bondee also is hiring for US-based jobs, including a compliance expert and animation designer.

Not just for Gen Z

With the tagline “live with your friends,” Bondee lets users dress up their avatars, decorate their own virtual rooms and visit other people’s virtual places.

Users can even leave notes on people’s rooms – similar to leaving a post on a friend’s Facebook wall.

Besides chatting, avatars can lounge around, dance with the person they’re speaking with, and sit down to eat with them.

The “floating” feature lets users sail through the platform to meet new people, leave and find messages in bottles, and see new sights.

Photo credit: Bondee

“According to users, the appeal of Bondee is its addictive and endearing nature. To be sure, the seemingly simple features of the social app hold a huge potential. On social platforms, many users have left comments hoping for the engaging app to be released in more countries and regions,” Bondee said in a recent statement.

It’s similar to what Meta is trying to achieve, but Metadream has done it without the cumbersome headset. In addition, Bondee wraps it up in a fun and frictionless package for everyone.

A peek into Metadream