Know how ChekMarc social platform is connecting like-minded people securely

ChekMarc is a social community that nurtures impactful one-on-one connections across the globe. This is a platform that connects like-minded people under one roof in a more safe and secure manner and unites humanity for a positive purpose. The social platform will be available to anyone over the age of 18 and will be accessible in over 35 languages ranging from English, Italian, French, to German, to Japanese, Korean and Russian.

The platform has recently launched in India and on a global scale. In the initial stage, ChekMarc will be accessible in three languages in India including Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali. It will be accessible to Indian members via both the website and application version, available on both the iOS and Android operating systems.

Well, as we know we already have dozens of social platforms where people can interact and learn more about the world and each other. Thus, in such a scenario to know how CheckMarc is different, what are their plans, targeted customers in India and more, we lately have a conversation with Ms. Vrinda Johnson Co-Founder & COO CheckMarc.

Vrinda Johnson, Co-Founder & COO CheckMarc. Vrinda has always been passionate about mentorship and the power of human connection. She began her journey with ChekMarc because she believed (and continues to believe) wholeheartedly in the need for a platform that unites people in the simplest, purest of ways. Vrinda is an academic and believes that one never really stops learning. She is eagerly looking forward to what she can learn from the ChekMarc community. In addition, she is excited to bring
her professional and personal experiences to ChekMarc and drive others closer to their goals. Prior to ChekMarc, Vrinda spent most of her career in Leadership and Financial Services consulting at Russell Reynolds Associates and PwC. She has over 15 years of experience in strategic consulting including leadership development, customer experience, and digital transformations, and large-scale enterprise transformation projects. Vrinda gained extensive
expertise in the growth of digital across all industries, including FinTech & InsurTech, Vrinda is a devoted mother of two, and she and her husband spend most evenings and weekends between homework, art lessons, and basketball and track competitions. In her nonexistent free time, she is also an athlete & fitness enthusiast and is just getting back into her first love, dance.

 

Please take us through the journey of ChekMarc

ChekMarc was founded by myself and Marc Kaplan. Marc and I met during our prior careers and immediately connected given our common passion for mentorship. I was at a point in my career where I was contemplating how I could focus on leadership and mentorship coaching, and Marc had this idea about enabling guidance conversations in a more positive way. The stars aligned right away, and we started the journey to build ChekMarc in mid-summer 2020. We built ChekMarc with one single-minded focus – to build a social platform that was available for anyone, anywhere (over the age of 18) without biases and without barriers. Our platform is where members, not users, will have a purposeful interaction. We are creating a purposeful interaction with the platform, and that purpose is created by achievement. Every member we have today is our ideal member because no one type of person defines us, and we are a platform where you can be free from judgment about what is meaningful and impactful to you.

 

What defines ChekMarc and what differentiates ChekMarc from its competitors?

ChekMarc is fundamentally different, we are a platform with a purpose – what we do is different, how we do it is different and why we do it is different. We are a social platform that connects people around the world to help each other achieve something impactful in life. We enable this connection privately, one on one where members have to agree to connect, and conversations between members are private. We enforce content moderation to ensure the positivity of communication and have strict guidelines that guide our members. We do all of this, with the simplest goal in mind which is creating a platform that enables the power of human connection to help push each other forward – globally, without trolls, positively and sincerely.

 

ChekMarc is a FREE platform currently available globally, in 36 different languages. This was of critical importance to us – to be able to provide a platform that connects people in a private, safer, and positive way where you can help each other achieve your goals. You cannot put a price on that. The value of having access to information and people that can help you is priceless and creates a sense of community that is desperately needed in the world today. This is why we built ChekMarc and will continue to focus on the importance of continuing to bring this value to people across the world without bias and without barriers.

 

What is your targeted customer segment?

ChekMarc is for everyone – anyone, anywhere in the world (18 and older) who wants help achieving a goal or would like to help others achieve a goal are welcome to become a member of the global ChekMarc Community.

 

How did the idea of launching ChekMarc in India come to you?

The Indian market is important for us on multiple levels. I grew up in Mumbai, my lead engineer also grew up there – and we have some very personal ties to the country. We see this as an opportunity to bring access to information, guidance, and help to a large population of people that may have never had it before. Our hope is that by creating this access, we want ChekMarc to open doors for people that they didn’t know existed. Our business model is very simple, and it doesn’t change based on market or geography. We want to continue to build the platform based on what our community tells us, and over time there may be opportunities to bring specific features to specific markets, but for now, we truly believe in creating equal access and opportunity. We see the Indian market as a strong supporter for us, and cannot wait to see how ChekMarc takes off.

 

What are your future plans for ChekMarc?

Our primary focus right now is to listen to our members and continue to enhance and improve our offering to make ChekMarc even more impactful. We have been listening closely and intently, and have a large effort underway to bring even more value to the market. Stay tuned!!

 

Please shed some light on the name ChekMarc and the idea behind launching a platform like this.

The way the name ‘ChekMarc’ came about is quite a funny story, all highlighted in our blog as well. Previously, we had started with a different name and during an early conversation with Marc, one of our advisors shared that we were basically helping people put a ‘checkmark’ against something on their checklists.  It was also a clever play on Marc’s name which the team loved, so we settled on the name. We wanted it to be something simple but powerful, and ‘ChekMarc’ conveys our primary purpose – to get and give guidance to put a ‘checkmark’ against something you are trying to accomplish!

 

How do you plan to invest the amount raised through funding?

We are privately funded, and all our focus right now is on building the community. We saw the dire need for a safer, more positive place where people can connect to actually help each other achieve goals, and that’s what we are relentlessly focused on. All the funds raised, now and future, will be put right back into building the community platform and providing our members what they are looking for.

 

Kindly give us some insights into the technical integrations involved in ChekMarc

As I mentioned previously, we have built ChekMarc in a way that reinforces our basic values – private connections, positivity, trust/verification, and no ‘noise’ from unwanted ads or comments. For this, we leverage technology partners for content moderation to maintain positivity of interactions, identity verification to build and foster trust, and the strictest data privacy and data protection for our members.

 

How has been the response received from the users so far?

The Chekmarc platform has resonated with so many people, worldwide, in ways we could not have imagined. The response has been overwhelmingly positive for us. This is our value – bringing people together. Our value is measured by the quality of connection and the positive feedback on having a platform that is free from all the noise. This is what we deliver to our members every day.

 

Security and Hacking are the growing challenges in the social networking space, how secure is the data of customers on ChekMarc?

Unlike any other platform that exists today, we at the outset already have built-in features like heavy content moderation (not allowing derogatory, harmful, hateful, or any other form of toxic/inappropriate content), identity verification (where members can certify their identity if they choose) and strict data privacy. Meaning, these features are part of our value proposition and not something we are adding in as an afterthought like a lot of other platforms. Our Data and Privacy compliance is also built in such a way that members have the ultimate control over their own data, can manage/delete/request any of their activity at any time. We do not sell our member’s data – therefore there is no fear of data breaches or unwanted/unnecessary ads or promotions. Members decide which data and information are private and which is public – they have the ability to manage and control their information.

 

What are the changes witnessed in the community building space currently?

Digitization of communication is such a powerful development and has broken down barriers to communication – even major barriers like geography and language. Unfortunately, it has also created this ability for unsolicited and unwanted negative commentary and has taken away the basic power of digital communication to connect people.  On the other hand, social platforms have the incredible ability to allow people to not only communicate but also do good and help each other. This, too, has been lost in the current landscape.  This was our inspiration for ChekMarc – to create a platform where people can truly help each other, without barriers and biases; and to bring back the power of digital communication and connection.