Maverick, a new social networking platform for Gen Z girls and women, has launched. Its list of partners including YouTube stars Brooklyn and Bailey McKnight, along with other young, female influencers.
Catherine Connors and Brooke Chaffin, both former Disney executives, founded Maverick, which is available as both a website and an iOS app. Its aim, according to its about page, is to foster “communities with a purpose” that empower women who use its social networking platform. The company’s approach will include both online content and live events.
The live event series, called MaverickLIVE, is where the McKnight twins come in. They will appear among other young women, like musicians Chloe and Halle Bailey, teen comedian Ruby Karp, gymnastic Olympic gold medalist Laurie Hernandez, and activist/model Daunnette Reyome, at the first event in Los Angeles on April 28. MaverickLIVE events will highlight women who have achieved success in areas like music, comedy, business, science, and technology.
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Before co-founding Maverick, Connors served as Disney Interactive’s editor in chief until 2014, after which she became the COO of Demeter Media Group, a research and media company that targets women. Chaffin previously worked as the SVP of both the women and family and business operations divisions of Disney Interactive.
Having both worked in media focused on girls and women, Connors and Chaffin found a void when it came to authentic, online interactions between girls on digital platforms and the organizations that aim to serve them. “[Maverick] came out of this ongoing observation that although there’s a lot of really great work being done by girl organizations… none of those organizations were really able to meet girls where they are in digital spaces,” Connors told Variety.
In a press release on the launch, Connors also cited research that girls “stop…taking risks and stepping into leadership roles” starting in early adolescence, a trend that Maverick hopes to change.
So far, Maverick has raised $2.7 million in funding led by Matt Robinson of Heroic Ventures, to which Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO, also contributed. The company is based in Los Angeles.
