When James Jones Jr. was growing up in Virginia and Florida, his musician father, a keyboardist and singer, would often take him and his two siblings along when he performed at Christian churches up and down the East Coast. He also taught music classes at the churches.
Jones said his father sometimes found it challenging to collect and track revenue from the various religious venues. And later when he became a business and entertainment lawyer, Jones at times found his clients were “unable to understand how money flowed to them, when they could expect to get paid for their gigs, and whether they were leaving money on the table,” he told L.A. Inno.
A lot of them weren’t sure if they could truly retain ownership of their creations, such as their masters and catalog, “due to standard industry practices that paid creators last” and oftentimes denied them of ownership rights, he added.
These firsthand experiences inspired Jones to create Bump, one of L.A. Inno's 2023 Startups to Watch. The AI-powered fintech platform aims to provide creators with “full visibility” into their financials across all platforms. Some of the company's goals are to help creators make good business decisions, provide access to capital and offer tools for business growth.
Especially significant for Jones, comprehensive payouts are a big part of Bump.
With Bump, "creators are paid properly and not contributing to the $425 million per year [in] creator revenues left unclaimed on top platforms,” he said.
More than $2 million in total discovered revenue has been found so far, according to Bump's website.
Bumps in funding
Jones founded the company in 2021 in L.A. and that same year received a $100,000 investment from Sunstone Ventures while participating in the Long Beach Accelerator.
In total, Bump has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding. Some of the investors include Plug and Play Ventures, Sixty8 Capital and Connetic Ventures.
Bump launched its “creator revenue discovery” product last July. Its target demographic is professional independent creators, like you would see on Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, as well as independent musicians with their own businesses. Bump is selective — not just anyone can use it.
There’s an additional screening process for creators who want to use the Bump Creator Card, which the startup is offering in partnership with Mastercard, Jones said. Those who are accepted can expect automated credit limits, which grow as their income grows.
Other tools provided by Bump include help with the management of digital assets; the pricing of users’ creations and exposure, based on comparable reach, engagement and sponsorships; and the streamlining of tax compliance and accounting, among other things.
Six months into Bump's journey, Jones has been invited to be both a member of the Forbes Business Council and Newsweek Expert Forum.
He recently found out that Bump will be awarded a grant from Founders First CDC, a national nonprofit that empowers diverse founder-led businesses. Bump was one of 30 companies in L.A. to receive a Job Creators Quest Grant. Jones said he has not yet received word on how much his specific award will be.
“Hiring local talent and creating good-paying jobs is one of our highest priorities,” Jones told L.A. Inno. “So it’s an honor to be recognized for our efforts.”
Jones said that while he hasn’t spoken with his dad specifically about Bump, that knowing him, “he would be both proud and demanding that I do more to help creators,” Jones said. “He doesn’t tolerate complacency.”
