A Fresh Sign Creator Startups Haven’t Hit Bottom

These days, when I think of startups in the “creator economy,” a subsector propelled by the rise of TikTok and influencers, I think of pricey disappointments like Cameo and Clubhouse, or one of several smaller ventures that shuttered in recent months. And I struggle to come up with any big winners, beyond giants like ByteDance and Instagram, which for years has been part of the Meta Platforms juggernaut. 

Investors, burned by a cohort of creator economy startups that raised billions of dollars during the 2021–22 boom and failed to gain traction, have distanced themselves from the sector over the last couple of years. That’s left companies vulnerable to fire sales or major pivots. That’s why Kaya and Akash’s report today that global creator economy startup funding was up last quarter for the first time in at least two years came as a surprise to me.