UpScrolled Surpasses 2.5M Users, Skylight Passes 380k

UpScrolled has grown to over 2.5 million global users, founder Issam Hijazi announced during an appearance at Web Summit Qatar on February 2, 2026. The milestone follows a rapid surge that began in early January, when the app had approximately 150,000 users.

Hijazi attributed the growth to user dissatisfaction with established platforms, particularly following TikTok’s January 2026 U.S. ownership restructuring. The new U.S.-based joint venture, involving Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX with ByteDance retaining a minority stake, prompted some users to seek alternatives perceived as less censored or algorithmically biased. UpScrolled positions itself as a censorship-free space with no shadowbans and chronological feeds, appealing to those concerned about content suppression.

“We launched about six months ago, and we grew to about 150,000 up until early January. And as of the last few days, we reached over one million users globally. Now, starting today, we surpassed two-and-a-half million users globally,” Hijazi said.

UpScrolled has not publicly disclosed funding but reports growing investor interest. The app’s rise mirrors short-term boosts seen by other TikTok alternatives, such as Skylight on the AT Protocol, which crossed 380,000 users in January 2026. Skylight’s nature as a potential TikTok alternative allowed it to see a spike in users over a busy weekend, with the platform experiencing its fastest surge in growth since its original launch last year.

Both of these platforms have seen a boost in users after the announcement of TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a restructuring that effectively places TikTok in the hands of U.S. based investors. One potential reason is the changes in TikTok privacy policy details and the recent weekend outage issues, both of which may have driven a subset of users to seek out new platforms with a similar purpose.