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Olivia DeRamus is flipping the playscript : What if scrolling through societal medium did n’t make us miserable ? What if , especially for woman , societal media could really make us sense more supported ?
“ It ’s sure as shooting not what mainstream social platforms have been build for , ” DeRamus tell apart TechCrunch . But with her societal platformCommunia , DeRamus is dare to try something that seems counterintuitive .
Communia is both a societal platform and a mental wellness putz ; you could post update in a biotic community feed , or you could privately journal and track your emotions over time . But for user to get vulnerable , they need to feel secure . So , the political program is occupy an approach that could polarize some , but could reassure others : citizenry must verify their identity before they can fully use the app .
“ It ’s a condom feature of speech , but it also kind of set the tone that this is an knowledgeable space and that you ’re secure here , ” she said . “ So the great unwashed sense more empowered to mouth about their PMDD , or to talk about the difficult life sentence experience they ’re run through . ”
DeRamus used to work in the nonprofit sector , focus on women ’s anti - violence efforts . But she pivoted to tech because she knew first - hand how worthful a supportive online platform could be . When DeRamus was in college , she was sexually assaulted . In a fourth dimension when opening up to her friends was a challenge , she seek out online community to help her serve her experience .
“ I turned to societal media because I was trying to figure out what even was go on to me , ” she said . “ It was pre - MeToo … Where are womanhood even having conversation around sexual assault ? ”
With Communia , DeRamus is create the app that she take at that prison term . “ We do n’t have all the answer at Communia , but even at our diminutive , flyspeck amount of financial support , with our diminutive fraction of resource , the solutions to many of the internet ’s issues are oftentimes more simple-minded than giving tech platforms would care us to consider , ” she said .
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And since she is n’t a typical tech founder , DeRamus is n’t using the typical tech playbook . “ I ’m aware that in tech , most people go very far without knowing how they ’re perish to make money , and I know BeReal was adopt recently , and they never figured it out , ” she allege . “ That ’s not the pathway for Communia , so we really wanted to take our time not only in building a better digital Earth for char , but also in building a more sustainable type of tech ware . ”
So , Communia ’s plan to monetize is to onboard creators . The idea is that rooter could pay to access more intimate community of interests with creators they know , where the stress is on the group ’s connections as a whole , rather than their specific relationship to that Divine .
To figure out its creator strategy , Communia brought on ex - OnlyFans CEO Amrapali Gan as a strategic pardner and outgrowth adviser .
“ We ’ve been getting to know each other for about a year now . I actually slid into her DMs , cold , no intro , and she responded to me . We met up , and over time , she was send word us on a number of different things , ” DeRamus enunciate . “ We actualise that she felt really passionate about our commission , and that she was help oneself us in so many expression of the business that it made sense to impart her on in a formal theatrical role that was much more than a traditional adviser . ”
Gan worked at OnlyFans as CMO , and then CEO , in a time when the weapons platform was volatile with maturation . Like Communia , Gan accentuate safety in her time at OnlyFans . As a political program most associate with adult capacity , OnlyFans habituate adigital identity platform called Yotithat prevents kid from sign up . Gan left OnlyFans last year to find Hoxton , a originative means working with startups .
“ Her expertise is really allow us to make even better decisions and arise faster , but also care a lot of unmanageable questions that come up for any societal medium weapons platform with her expertise , ” DeRamus aver .
Communia remains a comparatively green platform . The appparticipated in TechCrunch ’s Startup Battlefield 200 in 2023 , but has taken a slow approach to building out the platform . DeRamus has n’t marketed the platform much , but perhaps Gan ’s intimacy will deepen that . Slow outgrowth makes sensory faculty for a platform like Communia , though , because its intact premise could deteriorate if it miss the content easing capabilities to grow at scale without sacrificing safety . Communia is embarking on its first institutional fundraise now , with the hope that extra investment firm could help navigate safe emergence .
