For the second time in as many years, Agentio has locked in a funding round to propel its continuing growth in the influencer marketing industry. The matchmaking service, which automates connections between creators and brands on YouTube, has secured a $12 million Series A round led by Benchmark.
Agentio launched its namesake platform last year, providing a way for brands to simplify the influencer marketing process. Rather than operating through multiple channels in a weeks-long process, potential sponsors can use Agentio to connect with like-minded creators through an AI-guided marketplace. CEO Arthur Leopold, who Co-Founded Agentio after serving as the President of Cameo, claimed in a statement that his platform lets brands buy YouTube ad reads “as easily as they buy Meta or Google ads.”
That approach has already attracted notable users on both the brand and creator sides. Buyers like DoorDash, MasterClass, and HelloFresh are hopping into the Agentio marketplace to forge connections with the likes of Nick DiGiovanni, Matty Matheson, Rhett & Link, and Chad Chad. The company claims that its matchmaking model has improved customers’ return on ad spend four to ten times over compared to other social video channels.
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Agentio’s Series A funding follows a $4.25 million seed round announced last year. Participants in the company’s latest injection of capital include Craft Ventures, AlleyCorp, and “industry-leading marketing executives and creators,” according to a release.
Thanks to several converging factors, Agentio has a golden opportunity to make inroads in an influencer marketing industry that is projected to become a $50 billion market by 2028. For starters, regulators are trying to bring more competition to the digital ads business. The potential breakup of Google’s alleged ad buying monopoly could drive more traffic to third-party solutions like Agentio. And with brand safety concerns on the rise (with the recent “adpocalypse” on Twitch serving as a striking example), marketers will look to trusted partners for their creator needs.
Agentio takes brand safety seriously. Leopold told TechCrunch that his platform can “instantly” determine whether a creator is brand safe, thus saving time and headaches on both ends of the YouTube sponsorship process. The plan is to deploy the Series A funding to expand Agentio’s efficient model beyond YouTube.
“We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential that Agentio can and will have on the advertising industry,” said Agentio Co-Founder and CTO Jonathan Meyers in a statement. “Brands are working 10x as fast and seeing as much as 15x better return on ad spend by using Agentio. Offering more ad units on other social platforms will exponentially increase not just the creators we’re able to work with but the brands, and agencies, that can drive value using our platform.”
Agentio’s advances to other platforms are a big part of the company’s future, but its present will remain streamlined for now. At the moment, the company has not announced any specific plans to operate on channels beyond YouTube.
