INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
First it was street-style photography, then came the launch of her popular fashion blog WeWoreWhat
claims to be the first project management and payments tool for influencers
Last month, the product launched with $1.2 million in funding from Rebecca Minkoff and other unnamed investors
Creators and influencers like Bernstein are forging a path from content creator to full-fledged business, with multiple revenue streams via
Bain Capital Ventures' Jamison HillTech entrepreneurs, quick to pounce on any emerging economy, have also begun building services for
creators and influencers from marketplaces that connect individuals with brands, financial solutions that help capitalize burgeoning
influencer marketing has become an established part of the marketing playbook, we are in phase three: tools to help influencers further
financing, VCs have yet to fully tackle the influencer and creator economy
Founders and investors circling the space suspect a wave of Silicon Valley interest is coming, however, and that it will alter the category
The company was co-founded by Eric Lei, a former product manager at Instagram who focused on the creator and influencer side of the
business.The startup has already secured a seed investment from Maveron and CRV, TechCrunch has learned, and will receive another $150,000
in exchange for 7% equity upon entering YC next year
The company plans to give creators and influencers more independence from existing platforms by allowing them access to funding from a team
able to receive a bank loan to invest in their own brand
Imagine receiving a loan based on the size of your TikTok or YouTube following? Karat and other new startups focused on monetization could
Podfund, for example, writes checks sized between $25,000 to $50,000 to emerging podcasters
The company asks for 7% to 15% of revenue for three to five years depending on current traction, revenue and projected growth
Patreon, one of the first businesses to develop a tech solution for artists and creators seeking consistent income, recently announced Super
influencers or creators; rather, gives them a central meeting point to land gigs, learn about production, gain insights into brand deals and
communicate with or befriend other influencers
Indeed, 175,000 people are using the platform, 30,000 of which are businesses, which pay between $229 and $600 in annual fees to reach
influencers on the platform
Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage)Rethinking valueWhile angel investors like Rebecca Minkoff might be savvy to the business proposition of
influencers, many investors have remained skeptical
Influencer CEO Ben JeffriesThe first businesses to crop up in the space were traditional two-sided marketplaces: influencers on one
side, companies and brands on the other
Naturally, these were also the first business to get funded
Ben Jeffries launched his startup, Influencer, in London in 2014 after his close friend matched with Caspar Lee, a YouTuber with 7.3 million
Once Jeffries and Lee were introduced, the pair begin brainstorming what became Influencer, a marketing platform that helps brands and
influencers build more meaningful relationships
The business has attracted about $4.5 million in funding to date, including a recent $3.6 million Series A led by Puma Private Equity, a
co-founder and CEO Jeffries tells TechCrunch
office in New York City and expand its American clientele
Another company, Tribe, has similarly raised VC to grow its American footprint
Twitter or Facebook, raised a $7.5 million Series A in March
to invest in the creator economy
In fact, new funds have launched there with expertise in the category
partnerships and Paul Condolora, the former co-head of the Harry Potter franchise at Warner Bros., invests exclusively in the space
The firm even launched an accelerator for YouTube personalities in late 2018
Similar to Karat and PodFund, Next 10 signs a revenue-share agreement with participants of the accelerator, with a possibility for an equity
investment in the future.Rx3 Ventures, a new venture fund led by long-time Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, is helping
influencers in sports and entertainment get stakes in the companies for which they are hired to be spokespeople
The SoCal outfit has tapped influencers to become limited partners in their fund, giving them the opportunity to develop equitable
the venture-backed startup Brud, poses for a selfieWhen anyone can be an influencerThis year, companies are expected to spend a total of $8
billion on influencer marketing campaigns, a figure that should swell to $15 billion by 2022, per data collected by Mediakix, an influencer
marketing agency.
We all have that friend that somehow has 10,000 followers
CGI influencers like Lil Miquela, a digital avatar with 1.7 million followers created by the venture-backed startup Brud, or the lifelike
personalized avatars that Genies, SuperPlastic and Toonstar have cooked up, should drum up more dollars
Plus, efforts to democratize the path to influencer, including courses on how to become an influencer and marketing channels that allow for
venture cash, entrepreneurship from creators themselves and startups looking to capitalize on the phenomenon, the creator and influencer
economy is poised for a boom.
