Ukrainian startup Reface App came out on top in AppStore, ahead of TikTok and Netflix
The Reface App from Ukrainian developers, which replaces faces on GIFs and videos, came out on top in the American AppStore in the Entertainment category. The app has outpaced services such as TikTok, Netflix, Hulu, Disney + and others. This was announced on Facebook by CTO RefaceAI Oles Petriv.
In addition, Reface was ranked second in the Overall Free apps category in the US AppStore, ahead of YouTube, Gmail, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
What is Reface
Reface (formerly called Doublicat) is one of the projects of the Ukrainian startup RefaceAI, which was founded by Roman Mogilny, Oles Petriv and Yaroslav Boyko in 2011. RefaceAI development office is located in Kyiv.
RefaceAI develops the technology of replacing faces in a photo or video with the face of one person, you can “pull” the face of another while maintaining facial expressions. The company’s apps are often used by social media influencers.
According to the developers, unlike other face swap apps, they don’t use CGI or 3D modeling. The technology is based only on AI, it is based on the GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) machine learning method.
In addition to Reface, there are other viral applications in the startup portfolio. For example, Reflect allows you to replace faces in photos.
How did manage to reach the top
As Roman Mogilny told AIN.UA СEO Reface App, by downloading the application crossed the mark of 27 million downloads. On Android, the app is also a success, with the Reface App ranking # 1 in the Google Play Entertainment category in the UK, Canada, Australia and 14 other countries. In the USA – 4th place.
He also added that 90% of Reface App’s growth is organic, and only 10% is from marketing.
“Recent posts on Techcrunch and VICE are one of the triggers for App Store popularity. Another viral factor is the social networks of celebrities who started using the Reface App and making regular posts on Instagram: Britney Spears, Snoop Dogg, Dua Lipa, Trevor Noah. Not one or two posts, but actually use it regularly. Users like personalized digital content, and when it is of high quality, they will come back again and again, as experience shows, – explained Mogilny.
Influenced by the fact that we are constantly improving the technology itself: at first in the application it was possible to do only face swap (face swap – ed.) In GIF, now this option is also available for creating high-quality videos”.
The startup staff also grew – by 30%. Now more than 50 people work in the Kyiv office. RefaceAI continues to strengthen the technical team.
Source: ain.ua
