June 1st, 2022
Oakland, DC, Denver, Boulder, NYC, Miami, Orlando, Summit, South Bend, Berlin
At Checkin, we believe that the world needs more connection - not just content. More meaningful conversations, and less endless scrolling. Even before COVID hit, the US surgeon general declared the loneliness epidemic a public health crisis and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 1 in 5 Americans said they “always or often” felt lonely or socially isolated. Of course, the last two years have only made things worse.
Our founding team at Checkin, including Checkin CEO Shavanna Miller, Product Lead Matt Trush, Engineering Lead Rachel Vecchitto, Finance Lead Theresa Bufano, and Meetup Co-Founders Scott Heiferman and Brendan McGovern, met and worked together at Meetup, the pioneer in IRL connections. At Meetup, we brought together groups with a common interest. With Checkin, we're connecting people 1:1 around life's challenges. We're so proud to be building a life-changing support network to combat the loneliness epidemic. It’s the first of its kind - there’s nothing else like heartfelt, honest conversations with people who truly understand what you’re going through. We raised $3M in funding to create real 1:1 connection, with backers like Reid Hoffman, Rony Kahan, Evan Williams, Jason Calacanis, and Scott Belsky, and funds including Bloomberg Beta, Collaborative Fund, and Betaworks.
Since January, we’ve been working quietly to create a peer support platform that helps people make real connections, and get real support, through 1:1 video Checkins. Our alpha members have spent over 50,000 minutes in Checkins already, giving and getting peer support and being a listening ear to others like them.
With Checkin, members connect on 1:1 live video chats around shared life experiences like fertility challenges, burnout, gender transitions, or long-distance relationships. They Checkin on each other and connect on an honest, real level with someone who gets it.
People who know what it's like to:
Checkin isn’t therapy, but it can be therapeutic. Checkin members don’t have all of the answers. But they’ll understand what you’re facing more than someone who’s never been through it before - and be a sympathetic ear to turn to.
Today, we’re launching Checkin to the public. To join Checkin, you start by picking up to five experiences that have been a part of your life. Next, you have a 24 hour Challenge window to Checkin on someone who matches with you. Once you’ve completed the Challenge, you’re part of an empathetic community of supportive peers. In our beta, we are requiring everyone on Checkin stay active - by checking in on at least one other member.
We invite you to join Checkin, and:
Talk to someone who gets it.
Sincerely,
The Team at Checkin
🐣Founding Team
Shavanna Miller, Co-Founder and CEO
Matt Trush, Co-Founder and Product Lead
Rachel Vecchitto, Co-Founder and Engineering Lead
Laurel Hechanova, Co-Founder and Design Lead
Clara Hahn, Co-Founder and Member Success Lead
Scott Heiferman, Co-Founder and Board Chair
Brendan McGovern, Co-Founder and Board Member