- The “creator economy” is catching the attention – and wallets — of notable VCs.
- Creator-focused startups are raising millions of dollars.
- Here are the pitch decks that 13 startups used in Series A, Seed, and pre-Seed rounds.
The phrase “creator economy” skyrocketed as a buzzword in 2021 as creators, VCs, and entrepreneurs rushed to cash in on 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.
Money spent by marketers in the influencer-marketing industry is estimated to exceed $4 billion in 2022, according to Insider Intelligence — but the creator economy now extends far beyond marketing.
Fueling this rapid growth is the millions of dollars being invested into startups like link-in-bio service Linktree (valued at $1.3 billion earlier this year) or affiliate marketing platform LTK (valued at $2 billion in late 2021). Creators themselves are getting investors, too, and groups — like esports team Faze Clan — are going public.
Here are 13 investors and VC firms funding innovative startups in the creator economy
Last year, more than $5 billion was invested into creator-focused startups in the US, according to The Information.
And while investors may be looking at slightly different factors now that the greater market has cooled off, they are still looking for startups creating practical tools for creator businesses.
So, how do creator economy startups land those investments? Often, it starts with a pitch deck.
Lumanu, a creator-focused financial startup, uses a simple pitch deck that is more of a “conversation guider,” cofounder and CEO Tony Tran told Insider.
“My pitch is always why, what, how, and why now?” Tran said. (Read the full pitch deck here.)
But every startup has a different approach.
Insider talked with a handful of founders who’ve pitched their startups to investors about their process. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding.
Read the pitch decks that helped 13 creator-focused startups to fundraise millions of dollars:
- Restream, a livestreaming alternative to platforms like Amazon-owned Twitch: $50 million Series A (14 pages)
- Spoon Radio, a social audio startup: $17 million Series A (15 pages)
- Lumanu, a business-solutions platform for creators: $12 million Series A (8 pages)
- Slip.stream, a music startup focused on gamers: $7.5 million Series A (13 pages)
- Authoritive, an online course-development startup: $5 million Seed (11 pages)
- Brag House, an esports startup: $5 million Series A (24 pages)
- Insense, a startup helping e-commerce brands get low-cost ads: $2.5 million Pre-Series A (9 pages)
- Supercast, a podcast subscriptions startup: $2 million Seed (20 pages)
- Chartmetric, a music data and measurement company: $2 million Seed (46 pages)
- Squads, a startup that helps creators mint and sell crypto coins: $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)
- Spore, a content and community building startup: $1 million Pre-Seed (17 pages)
Read the full article here
