by - The “creator economy” is grabbing the attention – and the wallets – of notable VCs.
- Creator-focused startups raise millions of dollars.
- Here are the pitch decks that 21 startups used in Series A, Seed, and Pre-Seed.
The phrase “creator economy” has become a buzzword in 2021 as creators, VCs and entrepreneurs race to take advantage of a booming industry.
More than 70,000 people used the phrase online between January and September 2021, according to United Talent Agency’s IQ department, which tracks influencer industry trends.
The money marketers spend in the influencer marketing industry is estimated to top $4 billion in 2022, according to Insider Intelligence — but the creator economy now extends way beyond marketing .
The millions of dollars invested in startups like link-in-bio service Linktree (valued at $1.3 billion earlier this year) or affiliate marketing platform LTK (valued at $2 billion at the end of 2021) fuel this rapid growth. The creators themselves are also attracting investors, and groups — like esports team Faze Clan — are going public.
Here are 13 investors and venture capitalists funding innovative startups in the maker economy
In 2021, more than $5 billion was invested in creator-focused startups in the United States, according to The Information.
And while investors may be looking at slightly different factors now that the big market has cooled off, they’re still looking for startups creating practical tools for creative businesses.
For example, July — a creator-economy startup on a mission to simplify the branding process — announced in December a $2.3 million pre-seed round led by fund Seven Seven Six by Alexis Ohanian.
So how do startups in the creator economy land these investments? Often it starts with a pitch deck.
Lumanu, a creator-focused finance startup, uses a simple pitch deck that’s more like a “phrasebook,” co-founder and CEO Tony Tran told Insider.
“My pitch is always why, what, how and why now?” Tran said. (Read the full pitch deck here.)
Skye, a career coaching startup, had different decks depending on the type of investor or fund they were targeting.
“I had two different versions, depending on the fund,” said Jessica Wolf, CEO and co-founder of Skye. “If I knew a fund was more pre-seed, all about the founder, I had a deck. But if I knew they were numbers, I’d use another.”
But every startup has a different approach.
Insider spoke with founders who pitched their startups to investors about their process. They broke the pitch decks they used to get millions of dollars in funding.
Read the pitch decks that helped 21 creator-focused startups raise millions:
- Restream, a live streaming alternative to platforms like Amazon-owned Twitch: $50 million Series A (14 pages)
- Pearpop, a marketing platform for creators: $18 million Series A (18 pages)
- Spoon Radio, a social audio startup: $17 million Series A (15 pages)
- Kyra, a content studio, talent management company and influencer marketing platform: $15 million Series A (20 pages
- Lumanu, a business solutions platform for creators: $12 million, Series A (8 pages)
- Hype, a platform for link-in-bio and other creator monetization tools: $10 million, Series A (13 pages)
- Gamer-Focused Music Startup Slip.stream: $7.5M Series A (13 pages)
- Scenario, a generative AI startup to create art and game assets: $6 million seed (8 pages)
- Authoritive, an online course development startup: $5 million Seed (11 pages)
- Brag House, an esports startup: $5 million Series A (24 pages)
- Anima, an augmented reality startup: $3 million (15 pages)
- Spark, a digital art platform from YouTuber Moriah Elizabeth: $2.5 million Seed (9 pages)
- Insense, a startup that helps e-commerce brands get low-cost ads: $2.5M pre-Series A (9 pages)
- July, a “talent manager in your pocket” for creators: $2.3 million pre-seed (9 pages)
- Supercast, a podcast subscription startup: $2 million Seed (20 pages)
- Chartmetric, a music data and measurement company: $2 million Seed (46 pages)
- Ultimate Playlist, a music marketing startup: $2 million funding round (9 pages)
- Squads, a startup that helps creators mint and sell cryptocurrencies: $1.8 million pre-seed (12 pages)
- Skye, a career coaching platform: $1.6 million pre-seed (33 pages)
- Stagetime, a professional networking startup for performing artists: $1.5 million Seed (13 pages)
- Jubilee, a content studio looking to expand beyond YouTube and TikTok: $1.1M Seed-Plus (12 pages)
- Spore, a content and community creation startup: $1 million pre-seed (17 pages)
- Our Future, a brand of short video news targeting Gen Z: Acquired (15 pages)
