Tim Schaecker, a popular TikToker with 8.8 million loyal followers and a member of the German boy band Elevator Boys, has just launched a new social networking app. The app, named CNDO (pronounced “condo”), aims to bring content creators and their communities closer together and revolutionize the world of social media.
“CNDO is about creating deeper connections and rethinking the role of content creators in the economy,” Schaecker explains enthusiastically.
The main feature of CNDO is the ability for creators to create private social rooms for their followers. These rooms allow for community-wide group chats, fun challenges, and exclusive updates from their favorite influencers.
The team at CNDO strongly believes in the power of working towards a common goal. This mindset can help strengthen connections among online communities. For example, creators can encourage their followers to develop healthy fitness habits and share their progress with each other. This not only brings fans closer together, but also fosters individual growth, encourages new experiences, and creates genuine friendships. The company also hopes these challenges will incentivize users to keep coming back to the app, promoting a healthy app retention rate.
“As the creator, I am not the center of attention,” Schaecker explains to TechCrunch. “I am a community member, and that is what CNDO is all about. We want to focus on the end-user, on growing together through challenges, and on the possibility of meeting like-minded people.” Despite being known for his lip syncs and dancing videos, Schaecker’s CNDO club focuses on his other passions, such as reading, fashion, and going to the gym.
At launch, CNDO boasts a roster of 11 creators, including surfers Sophia Chiara and Shane (@shane_dk), and influencers in sports, ASMR, and beauty, like Jannes Werner, Jannis Reichmuth, and Lukas Müller, among others. There is no follower count requirement to create a community on CNDO; instead, creators must pitch their concept strategy and undergo a selection process to ensure they are a good fit for the platform.
Creators who join CNDO also have the option to monetize their communities and certain experiences by offering monthly subscriptions. The app takes a 20% commission from these subscriptions.
The team at CNDO has big plans for the platform’s future, including launching a main community for all users to congregate, discover new influencers, and participate in more challenges. There will also be opportunities for creators to collaborate with brands, allowing them to have direct access to specific chat rooms and interact with real customers. For example, a sneaker brand could join a running-focused chat room and engage with potential customers.
Schaecker’s journey as a popular TikToker began when he was studying Business Administration at the University of Mannheim. His long-term goal has always been to create a tech startup, and now he has made that a reality with CNDO. He developed the app with his two co-founders, Kian Seifert and Jordi Walder, who studied business and data science, respectively. CNDO launched its beta in October with 820 users and has already garnered a waiting list of over 5,000 individuals.
In May 2023, CNDO secured $1 million in pre-seed funding, with investments from notable figures such as German pop singer Sarah Connor, Presize founder Leon Szeli (acquired by Meta), Wefox founder Julian Teicke, leading McKinsey senior partners, and more.
To make things even more exciting, the other members of the Elevator Boys have also joined the list of investors. Bene Schulz, Jacob Rott, Julien Brown, and Luis Freitag, who will all eventually launch their own communities on CNDO, started as a group TikTok account among friends in 2021. The group is now an official music group and has recently released their first single, “Runaway,” which has already amassed 2.7 million listens on Spotify. The Elevator Boys are also the co-founders of Kabu, an artist management company.
