F
or Ishaan Sethi, CEO and co-founder
of the app Delta Connect that caters
to the LGBTQ community, it wasn’t
easy growing up gay in Delhi. From
bullying to peer pressure, he faced it
all. However, a chance to study at a prestigious
university in the United States helped him
come to terms with his sexuality. After he
graduated, Sethi went on to be part of the
corporate world; however, he always harbouredREALITY interview
Anindita Ghosh chats with Ishaan Sethi, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Delta Connect,
an app designed specially for the LGBTQ communitythe desire to do something which would
address the needs of the LGBTQ community, be
it safe dating, adequate medical care, or even
mundane things like finding accommodation
in safe neighbourhoods. His early experiences
in India had fired this urge in him, which he
kept alive. As a labour of that urge, he launched
the Delta app in April 2018, which has reached
over 50,000 users. Sethi shares his vision and
his work towards that goal.Where did the idea for the app
stem from?
Personal experiences and frustrations as
a gay man in India. Along with that, months
of research and inputs from people and
organisations in the LGBTQ space across
India and a conversation with Sachin Bhatia,
Founder of MakeMyTrip and TrulyMadly.How different is the app from others in
the market?
It is the first homegrown app in the country
that addresses the unique challenges faced
by the LGBTQ community in India and other
countries where the community faces similar
marginalisation. The app helps like-minded
people meet in a secure space; they can explore
shared interests, and access peer support. Every
feature is built keeping in mind the issues
we heard of during our research—these are
centred around security, profile verifications,
offline support, and accessibility.A standout feature of the app is the
‘Trust’ factor. Tell us more about it.
All users on the app have a Trust Score
assigned to their profile, and they can do
a number of things such as linking social
media accounts or selfie verifications to boost
this score. The higher the score, the more
Sparks (our version of a direct message)CRUSADING
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