What year was WhatsApp founded?

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton. Koum incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California on 24 February 2009, beginning the company that would become one of the world’s most widely used messaging services.

The original idea came after Koum bought an iPhone and began thinking about the possibilities of Apple’s growing App Store ecosystem. The first version of WhatsApp was primarily a status application: it displayed information such as whether a person was at work or on a call. Push notifications soon helped transform it into a practical messaging tool.

WhatsApp was published on the Apple App Store in May 2009. Early versions reportedly suffered from crashes, and Koum briefly considered abandoning the project. The service gained momentum after friends began using it as an alternative to SMS, and Acton joined Koum in developing the business.

The year is sometimes confused with 2010, when WhatsApp expanded to Android. That was a platform milestone, not the founding year. The company’s incorporation and initial App Store launch both occurred in 2009.