Mavn, a new women-founded startup connecting content creators with brands and other businesses, today launched its app, which gives users access to a variety of experiences from PR packages and paid messaging to campaigns, photo shoots, events, dine at upscale restaurants and more.
The app is available on iOS and Android devices. Creators can browse categories such as “Dining”, “Paid”, “Experiences”, “Mailers”, and “Non-Profit” and opt-in to each listed opportunity to be considered. Brands—who have access to an in-app dashboard with vetting tools, insights, and a calendar feature—then review applicants and accept, decline, or waitlist them.
If accepted, a creator will have the option to talk to the Mavn team or the “concierge” via chat to discuss next steps. Even before applying, users can message a Mavn employee to ask questions. All contracts and payments are also handled within the app. Influencers can also upload photos and videos.
Mavn is currently only available for experiences in Miami. The beta version was rolled out on December 18, 2022.
The app will offer experiences in Los Angeles, California and New York later this year. Mavn also plans to expand into international markets in the future, such as “selected hot spot summer destinations” such as St. Tropez, Mykonos, Tel Aviv and Ibiza, the company told AapkaDost.
Image Credits: Mavn
At launch, options range from paid campaigns featuring Crown Royal Regal Apple, FitTea and swimwear brand Natki Swim to free products such as skincare, apparel, fitness supplements and more. Mavn also partners with non-profit organizations such as Charity Buzz, Angel Watching Over Me Foundation, Jamie’s Rescue, and The Playing for Change Foundation.
Founder Olivia Ormos noted that she is in talks with the Miami Open tennis tournament and NFL’s Miami Dolphins for future experiences.
The app is free to use, but users must first complete a questionnaire to be eligible. Rather than prioritizing follower count, Mavn has an interesting adoption process — at least, in our opinion.
“I’m not just about the followers,” Ormos told us. “I accepted someone who had 9,000 followers.”
Mavn focuses on accepting users based on diversity, involvement and creativity, among other things. An example of poor engagement would be if a creator has a million followers and only 200 people like their posts. Creators who hide all of their comments may also not be considered, Ormos said, depending on the situation.
“I also look at the level of content creation and creativity. I think someone who is on the road is just as exciting to me as someone who is already established,” she added. “I am also looking for mutual contacts. Do any of our creators have friends in common? We look for reliability.”
Mavn doesn’t just accept the typical “pretty model,” Ormos said. “I have a magician on the app. I have someone who specializes in boat contents. It’s all sorts of things and that was my goal in getting into it. So I am happy to see the diverse candidates.”
Creators must be 18 years or older to be accepted.
Mavn claims to have already received thousands of applications, but so far it has only accepted about 300 users, with a combined following of about 50 million, the company said. While Ormos declined to share the names of notable Mavn users, she did reveal that NBA players, Netflix and HBO actresses, and top-streamed Spotify artists have signed up.
Once a creator is accepted, there are two plans to choose from: Mavn and Mavn+. The basic Mavn plan requires an Instagram account to sign up, and creators can only apply for non-paid experiences.
Mavn+, on the other hand, requires users to sign in with their Facebook account to share their insights through Meta. This is to ensure that brands can see all the insights from users to confirm if they are the right influencer to work with, Ormos explains. Users who sign up with Mavn+ gain access to paid features.
Mavn plans to eventually launch paid plans in the future, with Mavn+ being the most expensive.
While Mavn charges 0% commission from creators, brands must pay a fee to appear on the app. Compensation for companies ranges from $2,000 to $7,000 per month “depending on how big the job is,” Ormos said.
Mavn founder and CEO Olivia Ormos. Image Credits: Mavn
Ormos is the founder of marketing agency OO&CO, which is best known for organizing the annual Model Volleyball Tournament, where models from top agencies (Next, Elite, Ford and more) compete against each other. In addition to marketing and events, OO&CO also provides services such as brand awareness and talent management.
She came up with the idea for Mavn in April after seeing a “massive influx” of demand for influencers — a term that has exploded in popularity in recent years.
“Business development came out of nowhere. I couldn’t have a single conversation that didn’t involve the word ‘influencer’,” she said. “Whether it was people asking us to help get influencers to an event, my social media clients wanting to do more user-generated content, pay-to-play campaigns, restaurants coming to us to do dinner shows, instead of traditional advertising and really using the influencer space to achieve those things, and it got to a point where I just couldn’t handle the amount of manual work involved in influencer marketing.”
Mavn was created primarily to reduce the maintenance of building a maker database and to simplify communication between brand and influencer. However, it’s also built to “put the maker in the driver’s seat,” Ormos added.
While similar platforms focus on businesses and their needs, Mavn claims to be an app where creators don’t get lost in the process.
“What I realized about other competitors is that they are very focused on the businesses,” Ormos said. “They’re like, ‘We can get you influencers. We can help you with this.’ And I think the creator gets lost in this process and isn’t really empowered… So yeah obviously I’m not the first person to do this but I think I’ve used my experience in the space So many influencers have been to me arrived with positive feedback that they really feel [Mavn is] simplified for them, and it doesn’t feel confusing. So I think we’ve done it in a way that feels right for [content creators.]”
Updated 2010-03-16 at 10:48 am with corrections to the statements “Mavn is currently only available to content creators based in Miami, Florida” and “Creators must also be verified on social media.” Mavn accepts creators regardless of location or authentication.