Bloomberg Línea — Hubla, a platform that helps “digital influencers” monetize their content on social media, managed to get an investment of R$ 60 million (approximately $10,8 million) in a round led by Kaszek.
This was the second investment the startup received. Kaszek, Kevin Efrusy, Y Combinator and Big Bets participated in the first funding round, which raised US$ 2.1 million last year.
The platform is betting on bringing these influencers to paid communities hosted on messaging apps, where fans have access to exclusive content.
In the startup’s assessment, the paid community model is quite popular in Brazil, but it is difficult to achieve scale because it involves intensive manual work.
The startup offers a payment system, member management automation, personalized sales tools, integrations with chat applications, in addition to other features.
According to Hubla, only 1% of the most popular creators of digital platforms like YouTube and Instagram make money from their content.
Hubla was founded in 2020, in Nova Lima, state of Minas Gerais, during the pandemic, when several digital influencers gained prominence and legions of followers amid sanitary restrictions. The startup entered the Y Combinator Accelerator Program from April to August 2020 and was one of the fastest-growing companies in the program.
Today, it has more than a thousand active communities, which add up to 60,000 monthly subscribers in Brazil and Portugal. The communities are related to health, fitness and well-being, finance, investment, gastronomy, education and music segments.
In addition to Kaszek, FJ Labs, Big Bets and Kevin Efrusy – one of Facebook’s first investors – participated in the current Series A round.
The funds will be used to create new solutions for creators, in addition to hiring and investing to grow in 2022.
According to Hernan Kazah, co-founder and managing partner of Kaszek, Hubla has a platform that allows community owners to build successful businesses in segments such as investments, music and gastronomy. “This will be a significant part of the future of work and a great source of high quality content for millions of users,” he said.
Arthur Alvarenga, CEO of Hubla, believes that the adoption of technology by consumers has opened up new work scopes for content creators. “There are countless possibilities and a huge market to create an online business and monetize your hobby, talent or expertise,” he said.
Read more
Brazilian Proptech EmCasa Expands to 11 New Cities
Did That Chatbot Just Make A Rude Joke?
Inflation Is Raging Everywhere, But It’s Worst in Latin America