Creator startup Pico has rebranded as Hype and closed $10M in Series A funding. Here's the 13-page pitch deck cofounder Nick Chen used to attract investors.
Summary
Heres the exact 13-page pitch deck he created to attract investors like Bloomberg Beta.Creator startup Hype, formerly known as Pico, closed a $10 million Series A funding round led by King River Capital, the company announced on Wednesday.The New York City-based company helps content creators and influencers make money and manage their customer data by supplying them with myriad tools such as landing pages, subscription paywalls, paid newsletters, and a built-in messaging app.Since many startups have found fundraising these past few months to be particularly difficult given the economic slowdown, cofounder Nick Chen said cultivating his professional connections was critical for raising the money his startup needed. "I stayed in touch with Megan [Guy] from King River Capital for about a year, meeting up whenever she was in New York. "Hype was first launched in 2017 as Pico, a marketing and payments platform for publishers and journalists who wanted to paywall their websites. It later pivoted to the creator economy by building a link-in-bio platform for influencers because the cofounders thought their version could offer more built-in tools than others.It announced its rebrand as Hype alongside its Series A, wanting a name that creators could get excited about using, Chen said.Chen said more than half of $10 million Hype raised will be allocated to research and development, while the rest will go to marketing and operational costs. "Were taking a more conservative approach to funds because the current macroeconomic climate is so uncertain and the name of the game right now is just to survive," he said.Heres the exact 13-page pitch deck that Hype used to raise funds from investors that include Bullpen Capital, Precursor Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Tapestry VC, and Sterling Road: