Pearpop, a two-year-old Los Angeles startup specializing in the author economy with a self-service marketing platform, has raised $18 million in its Series A and is now valued at $300 million, CEO Cole Mason told Axios.
Why is it important? Amid layoffs at other creative economy startups and a volatile digital advertising environment, Pearpop has grown through efforts to charge brands and pay creators based on ad performance.
- The recession "didn't affect us because brands were looking for more efficient ways to deploy their capital," Mason said. "We're growing fast because we're the ultimate influencer marketing trap."
Details. The new funding comes from Ashton Kutcher and Guy Osiri's Sound Ventures, Seven Seven Six, Blockchain Ventures, Avalanche's Blizzard Fund and C2 Ventures.
- In total, Pearpop has raised $34 million, a Series A round of $28 million, and a Series A round of $6 million. Active investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Mark Cuban, Gary Vaynerchuk, The Chainsmokers and other notable investors.
- Mason declined to disclose his earnings. He noted that during the last year, the creators of Pearpop earned 10 million dollars on the platform.
- PearPop isn't profitable, but Mason says they could be profitable anytime if they weren't so "aggressive" about hiring. The company has 36 employees, and by the middle of next year their number will reach 60.
How it works Pearpop is a self-service marketing platform that connects brands and authors. There are over 200,000 authors on the platform.
- His clients include brands such as Amazon, Netflix and Chipotle, as well as artists such as Doja Cat, The Weeknd and Madonna. But Mason's vision is that anyone, from local businesses to the makers themselves, can run the campaign.
- Pearpop earns money by taking a percentage of each transaction, including the company's total transaction and individual author posts.
Bottom line: "The whole mailing model is pay-as-you-go and only lowers expectations for results," says Mason. "But I think our payment model is changing the industry."
