Trend, a Miami Beach-based company working to unlock the creative economy by connecting brands like Amazon with photo and video content creators, has raised $3 million in a pre-funding round led by venture capital firm Flybridge. and Pharrell. Williams’ black ambition.
Other investors in the curated creator network and platform include Techstars Ventures and the founders of companies like Twitch (Kevin Lin), Crunchyroll (Kun Gao), Kabam (Holly Liu), and Rotten Tomatoes (Patrick Lee).
“We believe that everyone who owns a smartphone should have the power and tools to become a creator,” Trend co-founder and CEO Ramon Berrios said in announcing the capital injection. “Today’s creators don’t have to rely on pre-built audiences or the influencer economy, so we’ve built a community of passionate partners with our platform to bring image and video content to over 1,000 brands while strengthening the global creativity. Get paid to do what you love.”
Williams said of her investment in Trend: “I was immediately drawn to her empowerment and individuality. They enable a new group of creators to harness the power that makes them unique and allow brands to harness that magic and collect content from around the world, all working in one community and platform.”
Most of the funding round will go towards building the developer side of the Trend platform. “We plan to expand into new industry verticals and reach more companies,” said Berríos. “This will allow us to continue our mission to become the world’s largest creative studio without having to be confined to a single studio space.”
Trend Network has “produced more than 100,000 content” for brands, says the executive, who co-founded the company with Zach Moosbrugger. “Our founding team comes from a creative background, so we know firsthand why and how creators want to empower themselves. He also said, “So far, we’ve paid out over $1 million to creators.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
