Founded by entrepreneurs, The Refiners is a San Francisco-based Seed Fund Program devoted to helping world-class entrepreneurs thrive in the bountiful yet complicated environment of Silicon Valley. The Refiners is passionate about the needs of international startups and believe they are different enough to warrant a program specifically for them. Over a three-month period, startups usually receive funding, networking, and mentorship opportunities in Silicon Valley. The Refiners’ aim is to equip start-ups with the tools necessary to expand your startup’s vision and scale globally. The Refiners is committed to providing start-ups with unparalleled support, guidance, and expertise.

The Refiners

Berkeley SkyDeck Fund is an investment Arm Behind UC Berkeley's SkyDeck Accelerator.

Berkeley SkyDeck Fund

Capital Growth

Sequoia Scout is an investment firm operating in stealth mode.

Sequoia Scout

SmartHub is a funding and service platform which connects the best start ups to investors, and supports at every investments.  Service solutions for investors – tailor made venture portfolios: focused pipeline, extensive analysis and research of investment options, deal structuring, legal paper work, quarterly reporting, investment rights protection till exit.  Service solutions for startups – fast communications and feedback, mutually beneficial deal making, strategic development support, networking and consulting at fundraising stage.

SmartHub

Isai is a tech entrepreneurs' fund that focuses on early-stage internet startups and small capital tech private equity deals. It seeks to invest in companies operating in the software, information technology, media, and industrial sectors. It brings together more than 300 tech entrepreneurs who have decided to invest their money and their experience in order to allow the emergence of new French Tech champions. Founded in 2010, Isai is headquartered in Paris, France.

Isai

Abstract Ventures is a sector agnostic venture investor in pre-seed, seed, Series A and B startup companies. It serves as pavers for founders, making vital connections for fundraising, talent, customers, and advice. The firm is a dot connector, counting the world’s most visionary investors, founders, and industry leaders as our allies.

Abstract Ventures

CRV has been an investor in technology companies for almost half a century. The firm has backed nearly 400 startups in its 47-year history, including foundational companies like Twitter, Zendesk, Amgen, Hubspot, Parametric Technologies, Yammer, EqualLogic, and Sonus Networks. Half of the companies CRV has backed have gone public or been acquired. The firm focuses on enterprise, consumer, and deep-insight bioengineering.

Frst is a seed-stage venture firm focused on supporting a new generation of French entrepreneurs with global ambitions.

Frst

ID8 Investments is an Investment Firm Focused on Partnering with Next-Generation Consumer and Technology Companies.

ID8 Investments

Diaspora Ventures invests in the next generation of french entrepreneurs building tech companies. Diaspora Ventures targets French founders who have true global ambition, by investing early and giving them access to the best tech ecosystem in the world, the United States.

Diaspora Ventures

Crossbeam Venture Partners (Crossbeam) is a venture capital firm that invests in Pre-Seed to Series A startups building tomorrow's economy. Focused on the themes of Platform Economies, Emerging Forms of Media, FinTech, Novel Asset Classes, and more, Crossbeam is built to back companies of the next-generation economy utilizing unique structures, credit, or novel business models.

Crossbeam Venture Partners

Snipfeed

Snipfeed is building Shopify but for content creators. The platform allows them to build their storefront directly on top of social and consolidate all the monetization tools they need in one place. Snipfeed lets them monetize their audience in one click through on-demand content, direct interactions, tips, and commerce. On the back-end, Snipfeed's dashboard helps you optimize and grow your business by integrating with all the third-party tools you need as a creator (analytics, financial tools...).

Snipfeed is a platform that lets creators sell digital content and services directly from a personalized bio link. With Snipfeed, creators can convert their social media profiles into virtual storefronts by integrating a Snipfeed link. The platform offers a variety of monetization options such as subscriptions and tips through personalized video, audio, or text responses; tickets to livestreams; and exclusive content. Snipfeed can also function as a customizable bio link, serving as a one-stop destination for followers to access everything the creator offers online, even if they are not yet ready to monetize. Snipfeed also provides creators with analytics and insights, control over how their Snipfeed page looks, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options for customers. Snipfeed also features website templates, including premium templates, to help creators design professional landing pages. Premium templates are available for Snipfeed creators who have subscribed to platform’s Pro Plan.

Giving creators the power of content monetization and audience engagement.

Creator Economy

Planoly To Buy Creator Monetization Company Snipfeed

Snipfeed is a platform that lets creators sell digital content and services directly from a personalized bio link. With Snipfeed, creators can convert their social media profiles into virtual storefronts by integrating a Snipfeed link. The platform offers a variety of monetization options such as subscriptions and tips through personalized video, audio, or text responses; tickets to livestreams; and exclusive content. Snipfeed can also function as a customizable bio link, serving as a one-stop destination for followers to access everything the creator offers online, even if they are not yet ready to monetize. Snipfeed also provides creators with analytics and insights, control over how their Snipfeed page looks, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options for customers. Snipfeed also features website templates, including premium templates, to help creators design professional landing pages. Premium templates are available for Snipfeed creators who have subscribed to platform’s Pro Plan.Snipfeed generates revenue from subscriptions and commissions on platform sales. Subscription plans include a freemium version (20% commission) and paid plans (2% commission) starting at USD 29 per month. Pro users also receive other benefits such as custom domains, page verification services, access to Snipfeed’s VIP community, and a designated creator success coach.Key customers and partnershipsFrom March 2023, Snipeed facilitated integration with Zapier for workflow automation, allowing Snipfeed users to move info from one app to another and automate functions such as building mailing lists, tracking growth, triggering specialized email campaigns, among other functions.Funding and financialsIn August 2021, Snipfeed secured USD 5.5 million in funding, which included investments from CRV, Abstract Ventures, Crossbeam (Ali Hamed), id8, Michael Ovitz (founder of CAA), Michael Bosstick, Diaspora Ventures, and others. Snipfeed planned to use the funding to enhance its ecommerce capabilities to enable creators to market tangible goods through their link-in-bios and produce instructional content that teaches users how to optimize their platform for revenue generation.

Patreon provides a platform for creators to offer numerous types of content (videos, text, podcasts, images, etc.) for which fans can subscribe to a monthly membership without any ads or algorithms. Patrons (Patreon subscribers) can pay monthly or per post for content access, in addition to the pay-what-you-want option. Creators are paid monthly or for every new post uploaded. They can offer rewards for different tiers, including meeting patrons or custom work upon the patron’s request. Creators are offered three packages: Lite, Pro, and Premium. Lite offeirs basic creator tools for a membership business with no tiers for fans; Pro offers additional tools and perks (e.g., workshops) with unlimited membership tiers; Premium caters to established companies with a large following, earning a monthly income of USD 5,000 or more, offering Pro services in addition to advanced features and Dedicated Partner Manager services. Creators can start for free and are charged a monthly commission based on their plan when they start earning: 5% (Lite), 8% (Pro), and 12% (Premium), as well as payment processing fees.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36100">November 2024,</a> Patreon introduced new features allowing creators and fans to gift memberships and offer subscription discounts.The company revealed in November 2021 that it is building a video hosting platform with a native player to eliminate the reliance of third-party video hosting platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo for creators to share video content with their patrons.Memberful, a Patreon-owned membership software platform for independent creators, launched a newsletter feature in October 2021, allowing creators to send news emails to their subscribers. In the future, creators will be able to make posts publicly viewable and schedule and send targeted emails to specific groups of subscribers. Notably, Memberful’s paid plans (charged monthly) retain 4.9% of creator revenue, while competitor Substack retains 10%.Patreon acquired tech recruiting firm, Clear Talent, in August 2021 to scale up talent and build its engineering, product, and design team..Key Customers and partnershipsThe company has partnered with third-party services, including Vimeo (to host videos) and Discord (for community chats).&nbsp;As of August 2022, Patreon had more than 250,000 creators, over 8.5 million active subscribers, and had paid out more than USD 3.5 billion to creators.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Patreon

<div>
 
 Substack offers a publishing platform that encompasses design, analytics, and payment infrastructure to assist newsletter subscriptions. The platform enables writers to focus on content creation and monetization via subscriptions. Writers can build their own paid newsletter subscription businesses and may choose to start with free newsletters for lead generation. Newsletters can be published to the web in addition to individual email addresses and its mobile app.&nbsp; The platform has a dedicated discovery section ranking the top newsletters, which are then promoted based on &ldquo;internet points&rdquo;. The platform supports podcasting by allowing writers to embed MP3s into their newsletters.
 
 
 The company launched multiple product improvements over the years, including video creation and editing features (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24569">
 November 2023,
 </a>
 the capacity to publish video podcasts, create interactive AI-generated transcripts, and customize shareable video clips
 ), AI-powered audio transcription tools (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21412">
 August 2023,
 </a>
 featuring transcript generation and audiogram creation capabilities), Private Substacks (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15987">
 January 2023,
 </a>
 where readers can request to subscribe to read users posts) Substack Grow (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4243">
 August 2021
 </a>
 , to help writers add paying subscribers in), Substack Local (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3163">
 April 2021
 </a>
 , an initiative to support the local news ecosystem), Substack Pro (to offer advance payments for certain writers), Substack Defender (July 2020, to offer legal support to writers in).&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 Writers have to bring in their own readers, and once they start earning (at a minimum of USD 3 per month), a commission of 10% (plus the Stripe payment processing fee) will be charged on the writer&rsquo;s income. Additionally, Substack stated that it has no plans to include advertisements as an additional revenue stream within the platform. By July 2021, the company reported its top 10 publishers bring in more than USD 20 million per year in combined subscription revenue. Moreover, the company has attracted famous journalists such as Andrew Sullivan, Casey Newton, and Edith Zimmerman. Substack had more than 500,000 paid subscribers as of March 2021.&nbsp;
 
 
 Other notable events include the acquisition of subscription-based social networking app Cocoon in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5113">
 August 2021
 </a>
 , the acquisition of Australian public correspondence startup Letter in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4601">
 July 2021
 </a>
 and the funding of podcast network Booksmart Studio&rsquo;s launch in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4390">
 July 2021
 </a>
 .
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s most recent funding round was Series B funding worth USD 65 million in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3156">
 March 2021
 </a>
 . The round was led by return investor Andreessen Horowitz, valuing Substack at approximately USD 650 million. The funds are to be utilized to rapidly expand the Substack Pro program alongside the implementation of other features.&nbsp;
 
 
 Substack reported a net loss of USD 22.9 million in 2021, having grown from a net loss of USD 2.3 million in 2020.
 
</div>

Substack

<div>
 
 Cameo offers a platform where creators, such as influencers, celebrities, athletes, artists, and musicians, can provide personalized videos and shout-outs to fans as per their request, charging for each video from USD 5 to as high as USD 2,500. Creators who have a minimum of 20,000 Instagram followers are automatically admitted onto the platform, where they set their own price and can choose to accept a fan request or not within seven days. The creator must fulfill the request within a week, which the fan can download and share. Additionally, Cameo provides a messaging option for less expensive creator/fan interactions. Cameo takes a 25% commission on each transaction on the platform.
 
 
 As of September 2020, Cameo had more than 30,000 creators across multiple industries. Cameo reported that it generated around USD 100 million in video transactions in 2020, with more than 2 million video messages being shared on its platform since launch, of which 80% were gifts for others. Furthermore, the company reported its creators and fans are based in 138 and 178 countries, respectively, with almost 20% of Cameos being purchased from outside of the US as of March 2021. For example, Cameo entered into a commercial partnership (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8576">
 February 2022
 </a>
 ) with Softbank, an existing investor of Cameo, to add more Japanese creators and expand its platform in Japan as a culturally fluent localized version.
 
 
 Cameo acquired marketing and merch company Represent (October 2021) whose clients include Jennifer Lopez, Ed Sheeran, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matthew McConaughey, among others. The acquiring company will onboard the Represent team as well as Represent&rsquo;s existing client relationships. In the near term, Cameo plans to allow fans to purchase &ldquo;gift bundles&rdquo; that pair a Cameo video with related merchandise from the creator. The company hopes to introduce new forms of creator-fan engagement, establish new creator revenue opportunities, and offer non-profit organizations a new way to raise funds.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s most recent funding round was Series C funding worth USD 100 million in March 2021, which valued the company at over USD 1 billion, achieving unicorn status. The funds are to be utilized to enhance the Core Cameo experience and capabilities, create new creator-fan engagement products (including Fan Clubs and Cameo Calls), and develop Cameo's B2B business. The company also plans to continue its international expansion.
 
</div>

Cameo

<div>
 
 Buttondown offers a publishing platform for writers to create and distribute newsletters on a subscription basis (price set by the writer) or for free. The platform does not charge writers until they reach 1,000 subscribers, after which they are charged a monthly fee of USD 5 per thousand subscribers. Buttondown also offers advanced features for professionals at a monthly fee of USD 29. Writers can send multiple separate newsletters from the same account, catering to different audiences by maintaining separate mailing lists.
 
 
 The platform also provides writers with user-specific analytics and insights, including features such as side-by-side comparisons of multiple emails. Buttondown has integrated with numerous third-party providers, Ghost and Medium (blogging platforms), Squarespace and Weebly (website building and hosting service providers), and web application integrator, Zapier.  As of December 2020, the company is run entirely by the CEO and founder, Justin Duke, and reported to have a monthly cost base of around USD 1,100. Furthermore, the CEO has made a commitment to donate at least 10% of profits to the software that enables it.
 
</div>

Buttondown

<div>
 
 Disciple Media, headquartered in the UK, offers bespoke community media apps for creators to privately share and own their content while having control, especially regarding monetization. Creators can use the platform to promote their brand, increase reach and engagement with fans, and monetize by charging fans a monthly subscription for access in addition to in-app purchases, sponsorship, and advertising. The company claims that the app-creating process had been reduced to 10 minutes since 2017.
 
 
 The company reported 200% revenue growth and recurring revenue growth of 160% in 2020. As of July 2021, the platform has reached over 500 global communities (up from 200 in May 2020) with 2 million members using the platform. The company claims that the growth of recurring revenue by more than 850% in 2019 was driven by monthly growth of 15% in new communities and 20% in members.
 
 
 Disciple Media raised USD 6 million in a Series A funding round in July 2021, led by previous investors including Nick Mason (Pink Floyd drummer) and Rob Pierre (founder and CEO of Jellyfish), among others. In addition to the company&rsquo;s fundraising, Eirik Svendsen&mdash;an expert in online marketplaces, SaaS, and the publishing and media industry&mdash;has come on as Chairman of the Board.
 
</div>

Disciple Media

Platforms that allow creators to share several types of content. Some platforms also offer fan engagement/ interactions with the creative artist via videos/ live streams.

Platforms that offer exclusive content to signed up members.

Platforms that allow creators to share their written works and blogs.

Platforms that provide tools to discover relevant analytics, produce content, engage with the audience, and help with the overall process.

Platforms that allow creators to share one of either videography, live streams, photos, music or audio podcasts with fan engagement capabilities.

Blockchain-based Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) allow creators to transfer ownership of their content via platforms that share proceeds with buyers, sellers, creators, and platforms via smart contracts.

Web3 enables creator monetization by providing decentralized platforms for creators to engage with their audience

NFT platforms segment uses metaverse concepts

Snipfeed

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless