Behind the internet’s endless stream of five star ratings sits a growing reality. Review farms, paid endorsements, and algorithm-driven visibility are shaping what we see and trust online. Nearly half of all reviews today are fake or manipulated, yet they continue to influence what we buy, watch, and believe.

At The Rippl Effect summit in Mumbai, leading voices across media, creators, and culture came together to confront that reality and ask a simple question: in a world full of noise, who do we actually trust?

The summit was chaired by Malini Agarwal and featured speakers including Nandini Bhalla, Viraj Sheth, and Saransh Goila, reflecting perspectives from media, the creator economy, and culture. Together, they explored a shared shift. The internet does not have a discovery problem. It has a trust problem. It was against this backdrop that Rippl, a social recommendation platform founded by Shikhar Vaidya and Smriti Dubey, was launched.

Rippl is built on a simple idea. People trust people, not platforms. The app enables users to discover, save, share, and act on recommendations from people they know, follow, or choose to trust. Across products, places, and content, every recommendation is driven by genuine belief, not paid influence. For creators and curators, Rippl offers a new kind of influence. One built on credibility rather than clutter.

Speaking at the launch, Shikhar Vaidya, Co-founder of Rippl, said, “The internet does not have a discovery problem. It has a trust problem. Too much of what we see today is shaped by incentives, not intent. Rippl is about changing that.”

Smriti Dubey, Co-founder of Rippl, added, “We are building for a more intentional internet. One where recommendations are thoughtful, credible, and actually useful.”

The platform enters the market backed by Silicon Road VC, Jaipuria Family Office, GKK Capital, MeitY Startup Hub, and a network of angel investors, signalling growing conviction around trust-led social commerce. More than just an app launch, The Rippl Effect positioned recommendation culture as a fundamental shift in how people navigate the internet. Moving from algorithm-led discovery to trust-led decisions.

With Rippl, that shift begins to take shape. An ecosystem where discovery feels personal again, recommendations feel credible, and influence is earned, not bought.