• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics

3

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics

3

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
TechTikTok

Meet Dubsmash, the video service stealing some of TikTok’s thunder

By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 14, 2020, 2:30 PM ET

Lip-synching stars, video gamers, and fashionistas are turning to Dubsmash to share their short viral video clips amid growing concerns about the security of popular rival TikTok.

During the last week of June, Dubsmash’s weekly downloads worldwide soared 235%, to 511,000, from the previous week, according to mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower. Meanwhile, downloads of TikTok fell 19%, to 15.4 million.

“Over the past 30 days, Dubsmash has seen a surge of new communities around the world,” Suchit Dash, Dubsmash’s cofounder and president, said in a statement. “The team is working around the clock to help foster a safe, fun, and welcoming environment for all.” 

The contrasting momentum between Dubsmash and TikTok coincides with India banning TikTok because of security concerns following a border skirmish between Indian and Chinese military. It also comes as U.S. officials increasingly voice concerns that the Chinese government may be using TikTok to spy on U.S. residents.

Last week, President Trump said he’s considering a ban on TikTok. A few days later, Amazon sent a memo to employees telling them to delete TikTok from their phones “due to security risks.” Amazon later claimed the memo was sent “in error” and declined to provide additional details.  

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has denied it is a security risk, saying it has never provided user data to the Chinese government and never would, the company said in a statement. In fact, the app recently stopped service in Hong Kong because of a new law there that would allow the Chinese government to demand user data.

In May, TikTok hired a U.S. CEO, Disney’s former head of streaming Kevin Mayer. Following criticism from U.S. officials, the company pointed to Mayer and the hundreds of U.S. employees and leaders working on safety, security, and public policy as a sign of its trustworthiness.

Although users in India have helped with Dubsmash’s big gains in recent months, U.S. users accounted for the majority, or about 47%, of the app’s downloads from April through June, according to Sensor Tower.

Dubsmash was founded in Berlin in 2014 by Dash, Jonas Drüppel, Roland Grenke, and Daniel Taschik to give users a place to post short videos of themselves and dub them with audio from movies and songs. Early on, it gained a large following in Germany before users in other countries started adopting the service. But the app, which had 50 million downloads within six months, struggled to keep its users loyal after many of them flocked to the service to watch videos from celebrities and then never returned.

Then in 2018, younger rival TikTok began its rapid rise, initially for viral dance challenges. Its influence grew, helping Lil Nas X, for example, turn his song “Old Town Road” into a Billboard hit after it went viral on the video service first. 

Eventually, Dubsmash’s users had dwindled to the point of putting the company under financial strain. It tried introducing new features, but that ended up accelerating its loss of users. At one point, it considered pivoting to offer enterprise services. Instead, the company closed its office in Berlin, moved back to New York, and started to rebuild the app.

The company declined to comment to Fortune. But in an article they wrote in Fast Company in March, Dash, Druppel, and cofounder Tim Specht said, “We stripped everything about our company back to bare bones, nearly as it was right at the beginning, but without shutting down operations. We let nearly all our staff go.”

Despite Dubsmash’s recent popularity, the app, with 195 million downloads, is still dwarfed by TikTok’s 2.3 billion, according to Sensor Tower.

Dubsmash’s most recent fundraising last year pumped $4.75 million into the company from investors including Index Ventures and True Growth Capital. It has raised $19.95 million since its inception, according to PitchBook.

Now that it is gaining users, Dubsmash hopes to add new features to attract high-profile users, or influencers, who executives hope can attract millions of other users. It also plans to create features to help those influencers make money on its service, much like TikTok does.

Much of Dubsmash’s recent growth has been from video gamers and cosplayers, superfans who dress up as their favorite characters from video games, movies, and books in homemade costumes.

A cosplay TikTok user recently posted a video on TikTok touting Dubsmash as a good “alternative” to the Chinese rival app. But the user, who goes by little_fae_cosplay and has 37,000 followers, cites one key issue: “The only thing it’s missing is the people.”

About the Author
By Danielle Abril
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Clinical Psychologist Daniel Wendler
ConferencesWorkplace Innovation Summit
A ‘proudly autistic’ workplace expert says putting neurodivergent employees in a typical office is like dropping a polar bear in Austin, Texas
By Tristan BoveMay 20, 2026
12 minutes ago
Pay transparency is exposing a bigger problem: Most companies can’t explain why they pay what they pay
Workplace CultureWorkplace Innovation Summit
Pay transparency is exposing a bigger problem: Most companies can’t explain why they pay what they pay
By Sydney LakeMay 20, 2026
33 minutes ago
Professor Jeff DeGraff.
SuccessWorkplace Innovation Summit
‘We’ve given them the short end of the stick’: Business school dean says AI could eliminate many jobs for young people—even as they lead innovation
By Preston ForeMay 20, 2026
58 minutes ago
Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp
InvestingNvidia
The one number that will actually move Nvidia’s stock Wednesday night
By Eva RoytburgMay 20, 2026
1 hour ago
Arvind Jain, Founder and CEO, Glean
SuccessWorkplace Innovation Summit
While other tech CEOs warn of mass job losses, Glean’s chief says AI will never replace a single worker
By Emma BurleighMay 20, 2026
2 hours ago
electrical transmission lines hang over a housing development on March 24, 2026 in Sylmar, California.
EnergyElectricity
2025 was a turning point for your electricity bill and it’s just getting more expensive from here. It’s not just data centers
By Tristan BoveMay 20, 2026
2 hours ago

Most Popular

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
23 hours ago
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
Future of Work
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
By Mike Householder and The Associated PressMay 17, 2026
3 days ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
8 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
1 day ago
Spirit Airlines apologizes to all the Americans who can't afford any summer vacation flights as it shuts down
Travel & Leisure
Spirit Airlines apologizes to all the Americans who can't afford any summer vacation flights as it shuts down
By Rio Yamat and The Associated PressMay 18, 2026
2 days ago
CNN analyst and 'The Morning Show' producer says Stephen Colbert is a role model for his ‘positive’ outlook on his show ending
Arts & Entertainment
CNN analyst and 'The Morning Show' producer says Stephen Colbert is a role model for his ‘positive’ outlook on his show ending
By Emma BurleighMay 19, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.