ByteDance became the world’s most valuable startup, off the success of TikTok and Toutiao, and have been quietly pushing out their next big bet. A work productivity app called Lark (Feishu in China). Like how Meituan paved the way for the SuperApp model for consumers, Lark aims to become the SuperApp for corporations. Imagine a single platform that combines Slack, Google suites, Dropbox, Zoom, Workday and many more.
The SuperApp for corporates:
Messaging and productivity (Slack)
Calendar and documents (Google Suites)
Storage and wiki (Dropbox & Confluence)
Human resource & admin (Workday & Concur)
Video conferencing (Zoom)
1. Messaging and productivity
Apart from having the messaging functions of Slack, Lark also includes audio messages, text-to-speech recognition, polls, red packets, and other in-apps 3rd party integrations like salesforce connector or scrum boards.
2. Calendar and documents
An equivalent of everything that Google suites comprises of - Word, Sheet, Slides, and shared Calendar. Taking it up a notch, there are additional features like in-app translations.
3. Storage and wiki
A Dropbox equivalent to organise our private and shared folders. It also includes features of Confluence for documentation.
4. Human Resource & admin
Combining the features of Workday and Concur, there are a variety of mini-apps that supports workplace admin matters such as leave management, attendance, payslip, reimbursements, and organisational charts.
5. Video conferencing
Much of the user interface replicates the structure that Zoom has perfected, but it still gives Zoom a run for its money in the China market. Apart from virtual background, Lark has in-built avatars and background noise cancellation. Since most Chinese users authenticate with WeChat, you can easily call or add people into the meeting. Instead of the hassle of sharing a link and waiting for the person to input the password before they join.
Closing
With the new norm of working from home, Lark's entry into the work force productivity space could not come at a better timing. Long gone are the days to maintain separate apps and contracts with different providers. Would you prefer this?
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