MOCEAN Offers Private Networking Solution for Crew

“The idea of MOCEAN was born around five years ago while having a braai with friends and family in Fort Lauderdale,” says Brad Techow, co-founder of MOCEAN, a private networking platform for the yachting industry. “Facebook was in the news again for exploiting user data, and the theme around the fire was that everyone wanted to leave Facebook but couldn’t because they used it to stay connected to the yachting industry.”

It was clear to Techow that the yachting industry was missing something — a dedicated place to connect professionally and socially without fear of encountering scams or phony profiles. Brad and his brother Warren set out to create a platform tailored to meet the needs of the yachting industry that combined the social aspects of Facebook with the professionalism of LinkedIn. Available on both iOS and Android, MOCEAN features professional profiles, a job board, a resource hub, news content, and a members directory. Verified members can also connect in groups and use messaging.

MOCEAN (pronounced “motion”) was launched in February 2020, with the initial version being rolled out to close friends and family for testing. This delivered invaluable feedback that the founders took on to improve the platform. “Through testing, we learned a lot of things about what the community actually wanted, and changed our platform to meet those needs,” says Brad Techow.

He also noticed how easy it was to miss out on opportunities because there wasn’t one central place for the yachting industry to connect. “There are Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups, Slack channels, various websites, Instagram accounts, and more — we want to be the first place anyone goes to when seeking guidance or information or hoping to find the resources they need to advance their careers, so that we can point them to vetted resources, coaches, and courses,” he says.

Originally hailing from South Africa, both of the Techow brothers have a background in yachting: Warren is currently a yacht captain while Brad left yachting 10 years ago to pursue a degree in entrepreneurship. Their experience has helped them to understand the unique needs and pain points of yachting professionals. “Over the years, there has been an increase in scams such as fake job posts, phishing, malware, and more, and this is because on other platforms, creating a fake profile is incredibly easy,” says Techow. “On MOCEAN, we verify every account, as well as your affiliation to the industry to ensure we remain an industry-specific platform and know who’s behind every profile.”

MOCEAN is designed to be a digital town square where yachting professionals can safely connect, find job opportunities, and share knowledge. As their tag line says, “all things yachting, all in one place.”