Influencer, an influencer marketing platform co-founded by YouTuber Caspar Lee and 23-year-old entrepreneur Ben Jeffries, has closed a $3.6 million funding round.
The Series A was led by U.K. venture capital firm Puma Private Equity. Funds will be used to drive new platform innovation and expand Influencer’s presence globally. The team plans to double its headcount by year’s end, including a series of hires on its global management team. The company will also open its first office in New York this year, with expansion on the West Coast to follow. Influencer is also building a mobile app.
Influencer was launched in 2017, and Lee — a YouTube OG who counts 7.3 million subscribers — became its chief visionary officer after investing in the company in Aug. 2017. In January, Influencer named Adam Ludwin, the co-founder of search intelligence company Captify, the director of its board.
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Influencer’s tech platform provides global advertisers like Alibaba, Pepsi, Starbucks, Pantene, PrettyLittleThing, and Apple Music with a network of macro and micro creators vetted for authenticity, quality, and creativity — based on its own data. The platform also provides brands with creator discovery, creator relationship management, campaign management and reporting, and other actionable insights.
“At Influencer we pride ourselves in being by creators, for creators, with a team who embody this new era of creativity and enjoy unrivaled relationships with the world’s leading creators,” Lee said in a statement. “Our shared vision allows us to create unique and seamless collaborations between creators and brands that transform the influencer marketing ecosystem and engage consumers through authentic and creative campaigns.”
