Trend, a startup that connects brand with social media influencers and content creators, has plans to scale in Miami Beach after securing $3 million in investor capital.
The pre-seed funding round was led by venture capital firm Flybridge, with participation from Techstars Ventures and Black Ambition, a nonprofit founded by singer and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams.
"They are enabling a whole new set of creators to harness the power of what makes them unique," Williams said. "And allowing brands to tap into that magic and gather content from around the world."
Co-founded by Ramon Berrios and Zach Moosbrugger, Trend is marketplace for image and video content creators. Businesses can search the marketplace to book creators who can help their brand scale via customized photography, testimonial videos, unboxing videos and product-in-action videos.
Brands can use those photos and videos on their online store or social media pages to build their audience and drive sales.
The creator economy is valued at more than $100 billion globally, with an estimated 50 million classifying themselves as content creators, according to venture capital firm SIgnalFire. And investors directed more than $1.3 billion into creative economy startups in 2021, CB Insights reports.
So far, the Trend network has produced more than 100,000 pieces of content for the 1,000 brands it works with – including Amazon. The company plans to build out the creator side of the platform with the recent funding, including the upcoming release of a full web app that enables creators to manage all of their projects.
The remote-first venture is also hiring, with open roles in its engineering and sales teams.
"We are just at the start of what's possible for the creator economy," co-founder Berrios said in a statement.
For more stories like this one, sign up for Miami Inno newsletters from the South Florida Business Journal and the American Inno network.
