Community & Belonging

mUnity

29670, Marbella

Pitch

About This Project

Bringing the Social Back to Social Media

What is mUnity?

mUnity is the first social media platform designed to help you stop scrolling and start showing up.

We're bringing the social back to social media. Through habits, events, and real-world hangouts, mUnity encourages people to put down their phones, build meaningful relationships, and become active participants in their local communities.

More Than an App

Instead of optimizing for screen time, mUnity is built to optimize for:

Real-life connections
Community engagement
Shared experiences
Personal well-being
Meaningful relationships

By turning digital interactions into real-world experiences, mUnity helps users rediscover the value of genuine human connection.

Our Mission

To combat loneliness and digital isolation by creating technology that inspires people to connect, participate, and belong.

Our Vision

Meet the team

Afshan Tofighian

CEO

Affy, CEO and Co-Founder of munity, began her professional career with HP and went on to build her expertise through entrepreneurship, marketing, and business development. Her experience includes helping grow 18techs, an IT consulting firm with nearly 20 years in the industry, trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major global brands, and emerging startups, as well as supporting the international expansion of a Makeup Store franchise in Costa Rica. Across these ventures, Affy developed a strong background in brand positioning, customer engagement, sales, market entry, customer acquisition, and communicating value in both entrepreneurial and growth-driven environments.

Alongside her business background, Affy brings over two decades of grassroots community experience, serving as a youth coordinator and working closely with youth and their families, schools, social services, and community organizations. Through youth empowerment programs, camps, and volunteer-led initiatives, she has helped create spaces where young people can transform their lives, build meaningful connections, and contribute to the betterment of their communities. This combination of marketing, entrepreneurship, and hands-on community experience gives her a strong foundation to lead mUnity's vision: using technology to move people from digital isolation toward real-life connection, belonging, and community.

Jalil Fanaian

CTO

Jalil is a founder and CEO of 18techs, an IT consulting firm with nearly 20 years of experience supporting major companies, organizations, and startups with high-level technology and programming solutions. As both a programmer and former McKinsey consultant, he brings a rare combination of technical depth, strategic insight, and practical business understanding to his work.

Through 18techs, he has worked with and supported clients such as IBM, McKinsey & Co., AutoTrader, The Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, the International Olympic Committee, Lowe’s, Mr. Beast, and a wide range of emerging startups. His work is centered on helping clients solve complex problems, build effective digital systems, and bring ambitious ideas to life.

Beyond his professional work, he has spent the past decade deeply involved in community-building efforts with children, youth, and teenagers, serving multiple times a week to support their growth, leadership, character development, and sense of purpose. His life and work reflect a commitment to building systems — both technological and human — that empower people and create meaningful impact.

The venture story

What you are building, for whom, and why this team.

The opportunity

Problem

The Impact of Modern Social Media on Loneliness and Mental Health

Modern social media platforms, designed to maximize user engagement, have inadvertently contributed to a growing "loneliness epidemic" among young adults. These apps effectively pull users away from real-world interactions, fostering a cycle of constant distraction and digital dependency.

Despite the illusion of increased connectivity, current social media platforms often lead to a range of negative psychological effects, including:

Comparison-driven anxiety
Social polarization
Heightened feelings of isolation

A Growing Market Amid Growing Concerns

Amid these concerning trends, the global social media market continues to expand at a rapid pace. Industry projections estimate that the market will reach a staggering value of approximately $280 billion this year.

This growth underscores the urgent need for innovative solutions that can address the negative impacts of current social media platforms while still meeting users' desires for digital connection and engagement.

Use of funds

Express interest

See how these funds are allocated.

Trust & Transparency

Capital structure, use of funds, milestones, and progress, plus how qualified participants can engage after approval. This initiative is structured around outcomes, use of capital, and milestone based execution.

For this initiative: discover it here, understand capital structure and use of funds below, express non binding interest if you choose, then request Pandi Deep Dive access to review gated materials after approval.

Capital structure

Company capital need

$3,000,000

Use of proceeds

Raising $3,000,000 for 15% equity

Implied post-money valuation: $20,000,000

How this valuation is derived: $3,000,000 raised ÷ 15% equity offered = $20,000,000 implied post-money valuation. Funders who participate in this round collectively receive 15% of the company in exchange for $3,000,000 of capital toward execution.

Planned use of funds line total: $3,000,000 Aligned with company capital need.

Delivery milestones

These milestones show planned delivery and progress over time.

Express interest

See the full execution plan, budgets, and use of funds.

All milestones:

Feature-complete and stable v1 app

Complete, test, and stabilize the core mUnity app so it is ready for a larger beta launch. This includes events, hangouts, habits, challenges, friends/squad-up, time tracking, reactions, streaks, notifications, onboarding, profiles, and basic admin/analytics tools.

Success criteria: stable app with no critical bugs, smooth onboarding, reliable notifications, usable event/hangout creation, and analytics tracking core user actions.

4 months

Community launch

Launch mUnity in one focused community/geographic area and prove that the platform can create local network effects. The goal is to show that users invite friends, form squads, join activities, complete challenges, and return weekly.

Success criteria: 1,000+ registered users in the first launch market, consistent weekly active users, growing friend/squad connections, repeated event/hangout participation, and evidence that mUnity is increasing real-world social activity.

6 months

Community growth engine and launch playbook

Develop a repeatable system for launching and activating mUnity within a local community. This includes ambassador recruitment, referral loops, local events, content campaigns, onboarding flows, squad formation, and partnerships that help drive user activity. The goal is to prove that mUnity can grow through real community momentum, not just paid ads.

Success criteria: a repeatable launch playbook, measurable user acquisition and activation rates, strong invite/referral activity, consistent weekly real-world actions, active ambassador/community leaders, and be able to onboard 2 more localities.

8 months

Partnership and monetization validation

Secure early partnerships with local businesses, community organizations, and event/activity providers.

Begin testing monetization through premium users, local business visibility, sponsored community activations, and anonymized geo-based interest insights where legally and ethically appropriate.

Success criteria: 10–25 active partners, first revenue pilots, partner retention/interest, and proof that businesses or communities see value in reaching active local users.

5 months

University plays

Target two universities, with one serving as the primary pilot and the second proving that the onboarding and engagement model can be replicated. Through institutional partnerships, student ambassadors and campus activation, mUnity will target 10–15% student adoption at each university, with at least 3,000 registered users and 35% monthly active users.

Success will be measured through real-world participation and at least one paid agreement, renewal or formal commitment to continue.

5 months

Citywide launches

mUnity will launch in one flagship city and begin replication in a second market, connecting residents with local organizations, schools, businesses, institutions and community activities.

The goal is to reach 3–5% of the addressable population in the flagship market and 1–2% in the second, with at least 8,000 registered users and 25–35% monthly active users.

Success will be measured by real-world participation, strong local partnerships and a repeatable city-launch model with validated acquisition, engagement, retention and revenue potential.

7 months

Indicative commitment progress

Offline / tracked commitments toward the round (not in-platform securities execution).

Commitments toward the round0%

$0 committed$3,000,000

Market size (signal)

500,000,000

Your numeric definition (TAM, SAM, or other) from the wizard.

What you are building

mUnity: Turning Digital Connection into Real-World Community

mUnity harnesses the power of social media to transform community engagement into an exciting and rewarding experience. Our innovative platform encourages users to step away from their screens, build meaningful relationships, and actively participate in local activities.

By seamlessly blending digital interaction with real-world experiences, mUnity creates a powerful bridge between online communities and tangible local engagement.

Solving Digital Isolation

As social media increasingly contributes to feelings of loneliness and disconnection, mUnity offers a different approach. Our platform is designed to motivate users to explore their communities, discover new opportunities, and engage in face-to-face interactions that foster genuine human connection.

Through a unique combination of:

Gamification and achievement systems
Community-driven challenges
Social recognition and rewards
Local event discovery
Real-world participation incentives

mUnity transforms community involvement into an experience that is both rewarding and enjoyable.

Creating Stronger Communities

Our approach delivers benefits at both the individual and community level:

For Individuals

Increased social connection and belonging
Improved mental well-being
Greater engagement in local activities
Opportunities to build meaningful relationships

For Communities

Higher participation in local events
Stronger neighborhood connections
Increased support for local organizations and businesses
Greater community vitality and cohesion

Our Vision

mUnity reimagines social media as a catalyst for real-world engagement rather than a substitute for it. By rewarding meaningful participation and authentic human interaction, we empower people to strengthen their communities while improving their own well-being.

The result is a healthier, more connected future where technology serves as a gateway to real-life experiences and lasting relationships.

Why now

People are increasingly questioning whether today's social media is making them more connected or more isolated. mUnity is built to answer that question.

Business model

Premium subscriptions, hyper-local advertising, and aggregated community intelligence derived from real-world engagement patterns.

mUnity

About This Project

Bringing the Social Back to Social Media

What is mUnity?

More Than an App

Our Mission

Our Vision

Meet the team

The venture story

The opportunity

The Impact of Modern Social Media on Loneliness and Mental Health

A Growing Market Amid Growing Concerns

Use of funds

Trust & Transparency

Capital structure

Delivery milestones

Indicative commitment progress

Sources

mUnity: Turning Digital Connection into Real-World Community

Solving Digital Isolation

Creating Stronger Communities

For Individuals

For Communities

Our Vision

Where we are today

Why this team

What this raise unlocks — impact alongside the business

Round structure

Initiative overview