- Hangzhou startup rebranded as “You There?” after public backlash over original name
- Product is now being piloted in local communities for seniors living alone
The Chinese startup behind the once-viral “Are You Dead?” app has raised a fresh funding round of under 10 million yuan ($1.47 million), as the company pivots from serving young people living alone to elderly care services.
Founder Lyu Gongchen confirmed to startup media outlet Pencil Never Lies that the funds had already been transferred and that the company would soon complete business registration changes. He declined to disclose the investors.
The app, originally known for helping young women living alone send daily safety check-ins and emergency alerts, has since been rebranded as “You There?” after attracting widespread discussion earlier this year over its controversial name.
“We held a public naming campaign and received roughly 10,000 suggestions,” Lyu said. “In the end, we chose ‘You There?’.”
He said the company behind the app, MoonRealm, currently has only four staff members, split evenly between online and offline operations.
Over the past few months, communities in parts of Hangzhou have begun piloting the product for elderly residents living alone, with some neighborhoods already covering more than 1,000 seniors.
The earliest pilot proposal came from Hangzhou’s Shangcheng District, where MoonRealm was registered, according to Lyu.
He said the district’s data management bureau first contacted the team by email, after which Nanxing Subdistrict — where residents aged over 60 account for 44.4% of the population — proposed introducing the service into local communities.
The app is now used for daily check-ins to help ensure the safety of elderly residents living alone. If no check-in is recorded for two consecutive days, the app automatically sends alerts to family members and emergency contacts.
The company is also developing a wearable pendant that seniors can use to complete daily check-ins or trigger emergency alerts by pressing a button.
“For many elderly people unfamiliar with smartphones, one button is easier to understand than a complicated app,” Lyu said.
He added that the Hangzhou pilots are being jointly pushed forward by local communities and the startup, partly on a public welfare basis.
“Both sides contribute some subsidies and work together to move the project forward,” he said.
Lyu said some elderly residents have begun proactively asking community workers to install the app.
Looking ahead, the company plans to continue improving both the hardware and software side of the system while keeping the experience simple and intuitive for its intended users.
“We’ve always cared a lot about simplicity from the beginning,” Lyu said. “Next we hope to make the product more reliable, and gradually integrate a few other closely related high-frequency needs.”
