Victory Square Technologies Inc (CSE:VST, OTCQX:VSQTF). (VST) said it has inked a letter of intent (LOI) for a follow-on investment of $1 million in portfolio company, Creator.co to grow the existing platform, and to complete the development of an add-on feature which will allow creators to launch their own digital currency powered by blockchain.
Launched in 2018, Creator.co (previously called Shop and Shout) has grown to become one of the world’s top-ranked influencer platforms. Creator.co drives awareness, content and conversions for brands on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and TikTok.
Vancouver, British Columbia based VST which builds, acquires, and invests in promising startups, said the Creator.co platform is automated and allows brands to "discover tailored creators and launch a campaign with them in minutes." Over 90,000 Creators have collaborated with brands like Walmart, Colgate, Minhas Distilleries, CrayolaBox, Zero Water, Freeyum, Vasanti, and more.
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Notable Creator.co Advisory Council members and shareholders include Manjit Minhas (Dragons’ Den), Dario Meli (Hootsuite), Andrew Reid (Rival Technologies), and Phoenix Ventures.
In a statement, Creator.Co CEO Vinod Varma said: “We’re excited to partner closely with VST and add even more depth to our Creator ecosystem. The funds will be used to scale our current features while adding tokenomics to the ecosystem - giving creators even more ways to earn on Creator.co.”
“With the Influencer marketing space growing by 30% annually, it’s on pace to be worth over $80 billion by 2028. I don’t believe it will be a standalone platform that ends up helping the most creators and brands, it needs to be an ecosystem,” he added.
The creator economy — made up of influencers, bloggers, videographers and anyone on social media monetizing their online fanbase — is 50 million strong, according to a 2020 report by venture capital firm SignalFire. “Social media platforms want them, and brands and marketers want to work with them,” noted the company.
The company highlighted the principal terms of the proposed transaction as follows:
- VST will subscribe for $1 million common voting shares of Creator.co and pay for them through $1,000,000 common shares in VST;
- The VST shares will be issued at $1 per share on the closing date; and
- $700,000 of the investment will be used to complete the development of an add-on feature which will allow creators to launch their own digital currency powered by the blockchain. This project will be managed by the VST management team.
“Creators are businesses that are creating real economic value, but they’re so poorly understood,” said VST CEO Shafin Diamond Tejani. “This is a segment of the economy that has seen significant growth, but there aren’t many options for them to find the right tools that can help them reach their full business potential. One of the things I’m most excited about is giving power back to creators and extending the options for monetization even further — to their followers.”
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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