Event: 2017 Phocuswright Europe
Product: Whalar
Category: Startup Company
HQ: London, U.K.
Principal(s): Neil Waller and James Street
Funding: We have received seed funding and are looking for Series A.
Product Description: We are an influencer platform that connects brands to influencers. Brands come onto the platform to search for influencers. They can filter by various categories, select a shortlist of influencers, begin to reach out and negotiate with them and keep a track of progress. Once the collaboration is complete, money gets released to the influencer, statistics about the post are made available to the brand as well as the original high res image.
Business Model: We have two levels of service, one which is self-serve and one which is managed. We take a 5% commission of total spend when it is self-serve and 20% for when we manage the campaign on behalf of the brand. We take 10% of every transaction as a commission from the influencer.
Competitors: Instabrand & Takumi. After one year, we became the only Instagram & Facebook marketing partner due to our focus on quality content.
Competitive Edge: We have built a platform which makes influencer marketing easier, safer and scalable. We focus on quality influencers who produce jaw-dropping content for brands. We are the only influencer platform that is a marketing partner of Facebook and Instagram.
Market Opportunity: Influencer marketing works across all sectors and for almost all brands. It works particularly well in the travel space because influencers need interesting content to keep their audience engaged and when they are in destinations, in a hotel or on a plane it is not overt advertising. More and more marketing budget is being directed at influencer marketing every year and a platform like Whalar adds structure where there was none.
Early Customers: We are already working with some of the world’s biggest brands including PepsiCo, Deliveroo, Uber, Vodafone and Dubai Tourism.
