Proof of Usefulness Report

ZOKO (YC W21)

Analysis completed on 2/2/2026

+354
Proof of Usefulness Score
Certified Problem Solver

Zoko is a verified Y Combinator (W21) company addressing the high-growth WhatsApp commerce market ($50B+ potential). While the underlying business has strong utility and verifiable external signals (YC backing, active platform), the project submission itself is of critically poor quality. It relies on hyperbolic claims (e.g., 'most people have used my product') and lacks specific active user or revenue data. The score reflects high market relevance and utility, heavily penalized for the lack of direct evidence and effort in the submission.

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Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+200.0
Audience Reach Impact+30.0
Technical Innovation+105.0
Evidence Of Traction+37.5
Market Timing Relevance+90.0
Functional Completeness+2.5
Subtotal+465
Usefulness Multiplierx0.76
Final Score+354

Project Details

Project URL
zoko.io
Description
Zoko makes it easy for businesses, to do Sales, Marketing and Customer Support on WhatsApp. \n\nThere are 100 million merchants worldwide, already using WhatsApp for their businesses. The founders started off with an ecommerce business, entirely on WhatsApp, which grew to customer base of 200K followers who would make purchases after seeing their weekly WhatsApp updates. \n\nOther businesses started reaching out to them, offering to pay for their \"WhatsApp sales tools\". That was the Aha moment! The founders realized that selling these tools to other businesses, was the way to go. \n\nIn fact, 175 million people message a business on WhatsApp everyday. Even Amazon can't beat that! There is dire need for tools that allow businesses to use WhatsApp effectively as a channel to sell online. The market size for ecommerce on WhatsApp is estimated be north of $50B/year.\n\nWhatsApp is the internet of the #nextbillion and Zoko plans to become the Shopify for merchants selling on WhatsApp.

Algorithm Insights

Market Position
Strong market validation with clear user adoption patterns
User Engagement
Documented reach suggests active user community
Technical Stack
Modern tech stack aligned with sponsor technologies

Recommendations to Increase Usefulness Score

Document User Growth

Provide specific metrics on user acquisition and retention rates

Showcase Revenue Model

Detail sustainable monetization strategy and current revenue streams

Expand Evidence Base

Include testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation

Technical Roadmap

Share development milestones and feature completion timeline