Readers of VC Cafe already know that we’re fascinated by the creator economy and its potential to completely disrupt the $2 trillion media and entertainment industry. When you boil it down, the innovations around the creator economy consist of new ways to create, distribute and monetise content as well as direct to consumer models for fan engagement, monetisation and commerce.
As a fund that covers entertainment and media tech in Israel, we at Remagine Ventures keep a close eye on interesting developments in the Creator Economy. You might also be interested in my post on the biggest startup opportunities in the Creator Economy. I was recently asked by Sifted to recommend exciting Creator Economy startups to watch, that are not part of our portfolio. The post is behind a paywall, so I’m sharing a slightly expanded list below.
5 Israeli creator economy startups to watch
- Lightricks – video and image editing mobile apps
- Why is it interesting: started in 2013, Lightricks rose to fame with Facetune, a ‘selfie’ editing app as Instagram was becoming popular. It became the perfect “companion” app – edit your pictures before sharing them. It has since built a lucrative business and crossed the $100M in annual revenue. The company recently raised $130M in September, but also came under scrutiny with the recent Facebook reports on Instagram’s impact on teens self esteem.
- Riverside – an online podcast and video interviews recording studio.
- Why is it interesting: I believe that audio is under optimised and that creators will leverage podcasts and social audio as an important channel to engage their audience. The tools in this space are still lacking and normally require a hodgepodge of software and hardware for editing and post production. Riverside streamlines the process online and is getting rapid adoption in the podcasting community.
- Nas academy – an online creator school – live classes, feedback sessions and community
- Why is it interesting: founded by world-renowned Palestinian-Israeli video creator, Nuseir Yassin, better known as Nas Daily, Nas Academy taps into one of the biggest needs in the creator economy – education for more creators to enter the space. It turns creators into educators. This picks and shovels approach has the potential to rise with the tide in the entire creator space, as more enthusiasts and hobbyists consider becoming creators.
- Why is it interesting: founded by world-renowned Palestinian-Israeli video creator, Nuseir Yassin, better known as Nas Daily, Nas Academy taps into one of the biggest needs in the creator economy – education for more creators to enter the space. It turns creators into educators. This picks and shovels approach has the potential to rise with the tide in the entire creator space, as more enthusiasts and hobbyists consider becoming creators.
- Wisio – A Follower-to-Creator platform that enables followers to receive personalised video advice messages and services from their favourite creators.
- Why is it interesting: monetisation is the key for unlocking creativity. Wisio monetises attention by enabling creators to share their wisdom with their followers via 1:1 paid video consultations. Fans can book a chat with their favourite vocal coach, astrologer or ASMR artist and receive an exclusive video, tailored for their question.
- Audiolabs – building monetisation and engagement tools for social audio creators
- Why is it interesting:: Clubhouse put a big bullseye on social audio (see my blog post) and every major platform is experimenting with the format. Monetisation for social creators remains an unsolved problem, and Audiolabs wants to do for this emerging space what Stream Elements, who recently raised $100M to continue to grow their suit of production and monetisation tools for gaming streamers.
There are many more worth mentioning, I’ll showcase another batch next!
Remagine Ventures is a seed/pre-seed fund investing in the future of where consumers spend their time and money. We focus on the intersection of tech, entertainment, gaming and commerce with a spotlight on Israel and the UK. If you’re an Israeli founder building solutions for the creator economy, let’s chat!
I'm a former general partner at google ventures, head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe and founding head of Campus London, Google's first physical hub for startups.
I'm also the founder of Techbikers, a non-profit bringing together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read. Since inception in 2012 we've built 11 schools and 50 libraries in the developing world.
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Hello Eze, great to see all these new ideas taking flight. Keep at IT!