When Fizz made its quiet entrance in Saudi Arabia in mid-March, founder and CEO Teddy Solomon didn’t anticipate the app’s rapid rise. Within just 48 hours, it soared to the No. 1 spot on the App Store charts, and users in the nation have since exchanged over 1 million messages. For a social app designed for anonymity that began on college campuses, this launch was unexpected.

Solomon and his co-founder, Ashton Cofer, initiated Fizz in 2022 during their time as Stanford students before leaving school. After securing $40 million and introducing the app across 700 campuses, Fizz has been expanding its reach beyond academia with Fizz Feed, a feature that allows access to non-students via location-specific communities. It’s somewhat like Reddit, but lacks the option to create or join specific topic-driven groups. Saudi Arabia, where Fizz now ranks No. 1 in the news category, serves as its inaugural international test for this ambition.

“Our vision has always been to create a generational social product, not just a college social app, and now we are finally putting that into action,” stated Solomon. 

Fizz has not previously disclosed details about its plans for international growth.

Solomon mentioned that during a conference he attended in Dubai, he recognized an opportunity for Fizz’s growth in the Middle East. Shortly thereafter, Fizz’s marketing analyst Michael Fonseca relocated to Saudi Arabia to establish connections in the region and gain a deeper understanding of the local culture, facilitating Fizz’s international introduction.

“Mike was warmly received,” Solomon noted. “I believe [Saudi Arabia] has evolved significantly in recent years.” The nation is currently “thriving,” according to Solomon. “Business is flourishing. The social scene and social environment are thriving. Snapchat is massive there. Social apps are extremely popular in the area, whether it’s Snap, WhatsApp, TikTok, or any other app.”

This transformation in the perception of the country is deliberate. In 2016, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman initiated a government strategy named Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to reduce the country’s economic reliance on oil. This initiative involves enhancing the nation’s image — for example, women are now allowed to drive — and investing in Western tech firms, including Google and Uber.  More recently, the crown prince established a state-supported AI enterprise named Humain.

Notwithstanding these developments, Saudi Arabia continues to operate as an absolute monarchy, governed by a royal family that curtails free expression. In 2024, authorities sentenced Manahel al-Otaibi to 11 years in prison for the “terrorist offense” of tweeting about women’s rights and sharing images on Snapchat where she was not donned in traditional attire, as reported by Amnesty International.

While operating in Saudi Arabia, Fizz must remain vigilant as the monarchy may supervise the app for potentially offensive posts, require the removal of certain content, or even detain individuals based on their Fizz activities. Solomon lacks a definitive strategy for addressing such occurrences.

“We will address that challenge when it arises,” he remarked. “We hold great confidence in our guidelines. Our moderation is very strict and designed to satisfy the local populace while adhering to the region’s regulations and the country’s laws.”

Solomon mentioned that Fizz has made substantial investments in Arabic natural language processing technologies to enhance its content moderation efforts. The company has also recruited “hundreds” of volunteer moderators from the Saudi Fizz community. Fizz adopts a comparable approach within its college settings — employing AI moderation tools while also identifying volunteer moderators who possess deeper insights into the specificities of campus culture, providing them with enhanced context during moderation evaluations.

Fizz asserts that it has not received funding from any Saudi Arabian sources and has not engaged with any government officials.

“There’s considerable dedication to their community,” Solomon expressed. “There’s significant pride in their country, substantial pride in the city they inhabit, and they appreciate the platform. They aim to maintain the platform’s safety, and take great honor in doing so.”