Ah, the dreaded group text. It “dings” on your phone with the promise of a one-to-one message—only to reveal that a few, several, or a dozen-plus recipients will now be dinging you to death. There seemed to be no escape short of muting the conversation—which could mean missing something important—or tossing your phone out the window.

Until now.

Brodkast, a new Dallas-based startup, has announced the launch of its new free-to-use  private group messaging app. The encrypted app offers users the ability to mass text with a one-to-many function that sends “Kasts,” or blasts, to friends without them seeing other recipients.

A faster, ‘cooler’ version of a BCC email

[Image: Brodkast]

The startup calls Brodkast a cooler version of a blind carbon copy email. But instead of sending a BCC that could languish in someone’s inbox, it’s sent more efficiently over text as “a faster way to reach friends, coworkers, teammates, family, and everyone in between without the distraction of all recipients texting back to the group thread.”

“In a nutshell,” Brodkast Founder Natasha August explained in a statement, “Brodkast is a casual and easy way to blast notifications, questions—anything really—without the hassle and annoyance of group threads or duplicating texts.” 

August has her own love-hate relationship with group texts. She says she was inspired to create the app while out with her brother. She joked about needing a “bat signal” to contact friends for last-minute get-togethers out on the town. When a bartender overheard her and said he thought it was a great idea, the wheels started turning.

“The idea stemmed from a personal challenge that so many of us face,” August said. “I was tired of throwing random friends in a group text for last-minute playdates or happy hour.” 

Founder’s background includes stints at Accenture, an Austin real estate CRM tech startup, and her own clothing rental business 

A graduate of SMU’s Cox School of Business, August has a diverse background including “five years of consulting at Accenture in San Francisco, volunteering in Uganda to help domestic violence victims launch their own business ventures, working alongside her brother at a real estate CRM tech startup in Austin, launching her own Salesforce consulting business, spending time in Beijing as head of product and partnerships for 5miles, and founding her own clothing rental business called Parcel22,” the startup said.

How Brodkast works

[Image: Brodkast]

Brodkast says that with a click of a button on its app, users can send a mass message to a specific group of people. Each person will receive it individually—no one will see who else got the message. Replies will be sent back privately to the sender.

Senders can choose whether the Kast disappears in 24 hours or not, and can also delete Kasts from all recipient’s phones whether they’ve been read or not.

Along with those functions, the app allows users to privately organize and label groups for quick, convenient “Kasts.”

“In need of a babysitter? Simply blast a message to your babysitter group in the app, having the added benefit of deleting it across everyone’s devices when you want,” the startup says.

‘Simplifies planning, connecting, and messaging’

Brodkast says its app simplifies planning, connecting, and messaging to create “a productive, protective communication platform for all.”

“Brodkast is not only super simple to use but, unlike a traditional text message, Kasts are casual and do not elicit a response, making it an ideal platform for low-pressure, spontaneous conversation,” August said.

The Brodkast app is designed for iPhones and is available now at Apple’s App Store.

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