Koo’s Co-founder Returns with a New Photo App
After shutting down Koo last year, co-founder Mayank Bidawatka is back with a fresh social experiment — PicSee, a new photo-sharing app that focuses on effortless, private, and automatic sharing. The app, available on iOS and Android, was released on Thursday and promises to change how people share photos from their camera rolls.
What Is PicSee and How It Works
PicSee is designed to make photo-sharing seamless. Instead of manually sending pictures through WhatsApp or Instagram, the app automatically detects faces in your camera roll. It then picks out photos of your friends and prompts you to share them.
Once your friend accepts a sharing request, they receive the first batch of their photos from your gallery. Any new photos featuring them are detected and queued for sharing. If you don’t manually send them, PicSee automatically shares them after 24 hours. However, users can review photos before sending and even recall them later.
All processing happens on the device, ensuring data privacy. Photos are stored locally in PicSee’s storage and are not uploaded to the cloud.
Built Around Privacy and Control
Mayank Bidawatka said privacy was a top priority while developing PicSee. The app performs all face recognition on-device, using an encrypted connection to send photos securely. It also includes NSFW filters and blocks screenshots for added protection.
Users have complete control — they can download shared images, remove unwanted ones, or recall photos they’ve sent. This gives PicSee an edge over traditional platforms that store media on external servers.
Tackling Everyday Photo-Sharing Problems
Bidawatka explained that most people have hundreds of photos of their friends that never get shared. PicSee aims to fix that gap.
“I’ve been thinking about the problem of personal photo sharing for years now,” he told TechCrunch. “After we announced Koo’s shutdown last year, I had time to rethink this problem and work on it again.”
The app makes sense for close circles — family, friends, or partners — who regularly appear in each other’s photos. However, convincing users to adopt a new sharing behavior when WhatsApp or Instagram already exists will be PicSee’s biggest challenge.
Early Features and What’s Coming Next
PicSee already includes a built-in chat function where users can comment on shared photos. The company said it plans to add album management, duplicate detection, and integration with Google Photos and iCloud soon.
It’s also working on extending its face detection to videos, making the experience more comprehensive. Users will be able to create albums, suggest collections, and share memories more easily.
Backed by Prominent Investors
PicSee is developed by Billion Hearts, which raised $4 million last year. The funding round was led by Blume Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst and Athera Ventures.
With Bidawatka’s experience in building social platforms and a focus on privacy, PicSee joins the growing list of apps like Locket, Retro, and Yope, which are reimagining photo-sharing beyond curated feeds.
The Future of Personal Photo Sharing
PicSee enters a competitive yet evolving space where users crave authenticity and simplicity. By focusing on private sharing, automation, and privacy-first design, it hopes to redefine how we exchange personal memories — not through public posts, but directly between people who matter.
