Chicago startup Cameo has landed a big hire as the popular app for celebrity shoutouts looks to keep its foot on the gas following a $50 million fundraise earlier this summer.
Cameo announced Monday that it has hired Stefan Heinrich Henriquez as its chief marketing officer. Heinrich joins Cameo from TikTok, the popular video app that's reportedly grown to more than 1 billion users. As TikTok's head of global marketing, Heinrich helped drive the company's growth in the United States, where it has taken off with Gen Z and others who enjoy the app for its ability to post short video messages.
Heinrich, who's also held executive roles at Google and YouTube---where he helped launch YouTube’s first paid subscription service in the U.S.---will be tasked with driving the company’s growth and brand, along with building out Cameo's international teams. He'll be based in the startup's Los Angeles office.
"Stefan has a powerful blend of history and expertise in bringing innovative, disruptive concepts to market for both early and later stage media and technology companies," Steven Galanis, Cameo's co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. "He will have a direct, valuable impact on driving opportunities for our talent, customers and brand."
Cameo, founded just two years ago, is a marketplace for connecting celebrities and fans. More than 18,000 celebrities have joined the platform and sent over 300,000 video messages to fans. Some of the more familiar faces on its platform include Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, Brett Favre, Charlie Sheen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ice-T.
Cameo has raised more than $65 million to date from investors including Kleiner Perkins, The Chernin Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Chicago Ventures, Starting Line and Origin Ventures.
