Comm
New York City, US · 4 known investors
Comm is an encrypted messaging platform for communities that combines Signal's end-to-end encryption model with personal servers to support community features like channels, roles, and threads. It allows users to own their encrypted data through keyservers while maintaining privacy levels comparable to traditional E2E applications.
Also known as Comm app
Founders & leadership
Investors · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Comm is a consumer privacy company developing keyservers, a protocol layer intended to scale end-to-end (E2E) encryption beyond basic chat. Its stated premise is that E2E encryption normally requires data to live on a user's phone rather than on application-owned servers, which prevents features such as backup, search, ranking and discovery. A keyserver is described as a sandboxed privacy platform that runs the backend for an individual's applications, with data entered into it inaccessible to the app operator.
The Comm app is the first implementation of keyservers. It is a messaging app for communities in which each community is hosted on someone's keyserver; the company states it does not host keyservers itself, so that it does not have access to user data. A keyserver, which can be run on a laptop or in the cloud, is required to create a community but not to join one. Each community contains a tree structure of chat threads that can be nested inside one another (comparable to Discord channels), plus "sidebars" created in response to a message in a parent thread (comparable to Slack threads). The app also supports a library of add-on apps for customizing a community, launching with a Calendar app. Web3 features include wallet-based login and the use of ENS names as usernames. Notification and inbox settings let users prioritize discussions they are active in and view all unread items in a unified inbox, positioned as a response to "noise" in apps such as Discord.
Business model
Comm develops a keyserver protocol and a consumer messaging application built on it. Because communities host their own keyservers and the company explicitly does not host keyservers or hold user data, its infrastructure role is limited to the protocol and client software. The sources do not describe pricing.
Traction
The Android app on Google Play shows more than 1,000 downloads, with the listing updated in June 2026 and release notes citing bug fixes and improvements.
Latest developments
The Android app listing was last updated in June 2026, noting bug fixes and improvements.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Comm positions itself between full-featured community chat platforms such as Discord and Slack and privacy-focused messengers such as Signal and WhatsApp, aiming to offer the former's feature depth with the latter's encryption guarantees.
Rather than relying on corporate cloud servers or restricting features to what a phone-local E2E model allows, Comm places the backend on a keyserver operated by a community member, which the company says permits sophisticated community features without giving the operator or Comm access to user data.
Technology
Keyservers are user-deployable servers that host a user's keys, data and digital identity, providing the server layer that E2E-encrypted applications otherwise lack. Data placed in a keyserver is inaccessible to the application operator. On the client side, the app implements nested chat threads, message-anchored sidebars, an extensible app library, wallet login and ENS usernames. The Android listing states that no data is shared with third parties, that personal info and app info/performance data may be collected, that data is encrypted in transit, and that users can request deletion.
Go-to-market
The company's initial go-to-market strategy targeted web3 users and communities in order to build a critical mass of keyservers, with the longer-term aim of extending keyservers to categories currently served by centralized apps such as file storage, email and social networking.
Communities and consumers seeking private group messaging; the initial go-to-market focused on web3 users and communities.
Geography
Headquartered in New York City. The Google Play developer listing gives the developer as HELIO NETWORKS with an address in Kirkland, Washington, United States.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Comm for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsComm announced a $5 million seed round led by web3-focused investment firm CoinFund, to be used to further develop and implement its keyserver technology. Founder and CEO Ashoat Tevosyan and CoinFund founder and CEO Jake Brukhman commented on the raise.
$5M source ↗
The Comm app was described as the first deployment of Comm's keyservers, a chat app supporting Discord- and Slack-style features in which each community hosts its own keyserver and users can log in with wallets and use ENS names as usernames. The Android release launched with a Calendar app alongside default chat functionality.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Comm - Apps on Google Playplay.google.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Comm do?
- Comm is a private messaging app for communities that uses user-run keyservers to extend end-to-end encryption to Discord-like features.
- Who founded Comm?
- Comm was founded by Ashoat, Ashoat Tevosyan.
- Who are Comm's investors?
- Comm's investors include Vibe Capital, Electric Capital, Eniac Ventures, Essence Venture Capital.
- Where is Comm headquartered?
- Comm is headquartered in New York City, US.