Nepali youth in Australia build Thopla app

Kathmandu, November 10 A social media app called Thopla, developed by a young Nepali in Australia to connect Nepalis abroad through homegrown technology, has grown in popularity recently. Ujjwal Khanal, originally from Bharatpur, Chitwan, built the app while living in Canberra, the Australian capital. About 20,000 users have joined in the five months since the new version went live. In a conversation with Onlinekhabar, Khanal said he wants Thopla to be more than just another social network.

He hopes to develop it into a digital platform that connects Nepalis around the world and turns their creativity into income. Khanal said the app has become especially popular among Nepali workers in the Gulf countries. In some of these countries, platforms such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are difficult to use or restricted. He believes this has made Thopla a reliable alternative for staying in touch with family and relatives.

According to Khanal, about 15,000 Nepalis in the Gulf region alone have downloaded the app so far. “Messenger and WhatsApp do not work easily in some Gulf countries.