Oct. 29. 2024 From Business Insider. Reposted by FoundersX team -- 13 creator-economy startups to watch in 2024, according to top VCs. The creator economy is dominated by Big Tech, but a new set of startups is finding ways to break in. Business Insider asked venture capitalists which creator startups they felt showed promise.
It sometimes feels like Big Tech has gobbled up the creator economy, leaving little room for newcomers. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok facilitate billions of dollars flowing annually to influencers at a scale no startup is close to matching. Meta and Google have the vast resources to launch and test features quickly.
And yet, a new crop of startups is fighting to develop products that break through the noise and help creators build their businesses. These companies are ambitious and optimistic, even though some startups in the industry have failed to live up to lofty valuations. They see an opportunity to disrupt a part of the industry so long as they work hard and build the right products for their customers (and perhaps get lucky).
"Doing consumer social at any point in history, you have to be a special kind of crazy," said Alejandro Oropeza, CEO of Flavrs, a TikTok-like app built for food creators. "You're trying to capture lightning in a bottle. You're competing with the biggest incumbents."
Goldman Sachs estimated the creator economy could hit $480 billion annually by 2027, driven largely by influencer marketing and advertising revenue.
Venture capitalists and angel investors are scouring the creator-economy-startup pool to find companies that show promise. Influencer-marketing startups are of interest, as they've proven to be a target for M&A activity this year. Creator startups that build with artificial-intelligence tech, such as Delphi and Merse, have also become a focus among investors.
Business Insider asked investors with expertise in the creator space which startups they felt showed promise. We asked them to provide a name of a company they had bet money on, as well as one they had no financial interest in. We omitted a few nominations of companies BI previously featured in earlier versions of this list, such as Beehiiv and Whop.
Among the top 13 creator-economy startups to watch, two of them, Dreamflare AI and Merse are the portfolio companies of FoundersX Ventures.
Recommended by: Helen Liang, founder and managing partner at FoundersX Ventures
Relationship: FoundersX Ventures is an investor in DreamFlare.
Total funding: $1.65 million at the time of launch in July, according to the company
What it does: Cofounded by former Googler Josh Liss and entertainment producer Rob Bralver, DreamFlare is a platform for storytellers to distribute AI-generated content like digital comics and interactive shows.
Why it's on the list: FoundersX Ventures' Liang said DreamFlare AI has the potential to produce "next-gen Pixar studios with an immersive gaming experience," adding that it had courted hundreds of creators globally since launch.
Recommended by: Helen Liang, founder and managing partner at FoundersX Ventures
Relationship: FoundersX Ventures was not an investor in Merse when they nominated the company, but became a funder ahead of this story's publication.
Total funding: Approximately $1 million, according to the company
What it does: Merse is a digital-comics platform that incorporates audio effects into stories. The Y-Combinator-backed startup uses AI tools to handle text and voice translations in multiple languages. Artists can also add audio effects and soundtracks, per a Y Combinator blog post from cofounder Kumar Abhirup.
Why it's on the list: Digital comics and web storytelling have become areas of focus among entertainment startups as they tap into new technologies like AI to make content more interactive. Merse is just a few months old, but FoundersX Ventures's Liang told BI she could see the platform growing in popularity among Gen Z and younger users in the coming years.
For the complete list of 13 startups to watch, see the original post from Business Insider.