Romanian developer team unveils ad-free monetized social media platform

A team of Romanian developers has created LUIVE, a social media platform that helps content creators share their content and earn revenue from views.

The alpha version of the platform was launched in sandbox mode in early 2020 and the beta version was released in September 2020. With over 170,000 registered accounts already, the platform's creators plan to exit the beta phase in June of this year.

The platform was created after an initial investment of EUR 500,000. A further EUR 100,000 came from an angel investor.

LUIVE already has over 2,000 users with verified identities and aims to expand globally, with the platform already active for users in both Europe and the Americas.

"We know how difficult it is for content creators to monetize their activities on existing platforms, which either charge commissions of up to 70% or do not offer new creators access to audiences without significant costs. We wanted to provide them with diverse opportunities to earn immediate income from their content. We have all seen online communities grow in importance, and how much demand there is for original content, but also how much unpaid work creators put into online platforms,” said Vlad Brătilă, CEO of International Social Media, the company that developed the LUIVE platform.

“We are the only fully monetizable ad-free social network in the world at the moment, and we practically aim to democratize monetization in social media, a world where the social experience is often hindered by irrelevant content and inappropriate targeting," he added.

Users of LUIVE can earn income by selling content and through referrals. Romanian influencers have already earned amounts exceeding EUR 15,000. The functionalities include the ability to create an account, verify identity, create and promote content, interact with other users through private messaging, and subscribe to favorite profiles.

Currently, the platform offers monetization features such as unlockable Stories for a fee, posts that can be collected after paying the creator's requested price, chargeable video calls per minute, monetizable live streaming, and an Explore area where short-format content can generate revenue through unlocking. Additionally, each user has a wallet where they can manage earnings or purchases.

Monetization on LUIVE is done within an ecosystem where in-site currency, Luives, can be purchased at various prices, which vary based on offers and volume discounts, and are only taxed upon purchase by the platform. Subsequently, the coins in the platform have a fixed value of USD 0.05 per Luive and can be traded between users with verified accounts.

Any user, verified or unverified, can make purchases, but only verified users can receive the coins. Thus, verified users, generally content creators, receive a 100% commission on the prices they set. So far, all the traction generated by Luive has been organic, with the platform generating approximately USD 100,000 in the beta version.