Startup creates less toxic social media platform

Escapex wanted to create a more intimate space for influencers to interact with fans and a new way to monetise content

Spotted: Singapore-based Escapex has created an alternative social media platform for influencers and their fans. The social media app allows celebrities and other influential social media personas to create “personally owned platforms,” or custom mobile apps, on the Escapex platform. Their fans join for free.

The company wanted to create a more intimate space for celebrities to interact with their fans, something that Escapex CEO Shamik Talukder believes is missing from mainstream platforms.

“There’s nobody who’s engaging with their fans, which was supposed to be the primary reason why social media came into being,” he told jwtintelligence.com.

Once an influencer creates a page, he or she can generate income through ads, subscriptions and in-app purchases. For instance, fans can pay a subscription for exclusive content. That means celebrities have a “new avenue for sharing and monetising” their fame while providing a safer environment to interact online, the company says.

Escapex says it is already reaching nearly 3 billion followers around the world. It is active in 17 countries and holds a 90 percent share of the market in Indonesia, according to the company.