Pico, the creator economy monetization software company, launches 2.0 with fresh round of funding

Hype
April 14, 2021

NEW YORK, NY, Wednesday, April 14th - Pico, the operating system for the creator economy, announced the second generation of its powerful monetization and CRM platform for creators, as well as a new round of funding led by Bullpen Capital’s Ann Lai, bringing the total funding raised for the company to $10 million, including backing from investors like Precursor Ventures, Stripe, Bloomberg Beta, and Village Global.

While the creator economy is booming, creators’ revenue and livelihoods are often left at the whim of the platform they build on. Pico gives creators the tools to get to know their audience and monetize their work on their own terms, across multiple platforms and product types.

“The two biggest problems for creators are how to make money more easily and how to get to know your audience better,” said Nick Chen, Pico’s CEO & Co-Founder. “As a creator, your two most valuable assets are your brand and the relationship to your audience. Pico empowers creators to fully own both.”

The Pico Operating System

Pico offers maximum flexibility for creators so they can easily set up the right tools for their unique business. Creators can choose from Pico’s wide range of solutions, including landing pages, on-site popups for email capture, paid newsletters, subscription paywalls, paid memberships with tiers and benefits, recurring and one-time donations, and online course revenue tools for on-demand and live streaming — all while retaining complete ownership and control of their data and customer relationships.

“In the last year, Pico has increased our number of customers nearly five-fold, and they are now making tens of millions of dollars per year through us,” said Jason Bade, Pico’s President & Co-Founder. “These creators are flocking to Pico, because we give them the power to get to know their customers and drive more revenue while strengthening the resiliency of their business. The audience is the new storefront, and no other platform enables creators to own the relationship with their audience while scaling up their business like Pico.”

With the launch of the new version, all of Pico’s tools are now combined into one seamless data structure. Creators can see their entire audience in an easy-to-use customer relationship management dashboard showing who is paying for what content and where they came from. Additionally, with the upcoming launch of a newly productized API based on the Pico 2.0 architecture, technical teams will soon be able to create integrations with any desired system.

The new funding will be used to execute on the Pico vision as well as add additional talent to the Pico team, such as former YouTube executive Rodolphe Ködderitzsch, who recently joined as Chief Revenue Officer. “I have been helping creators grow and make money for almost ten years now, and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity that Pico has to empower creators to become business owners, not audience renters,” said Ködderitzsch.

“I’m excited to back the incredible vision of Pico’s founders,” said Ann Lai, General Partner at Bullpen Capital. “Owning your audience means owning the knowledge of how to create your audience, removing the guesswork. Pico has prioritized building the foundational technology that allows creators to see where their audience is coming from, who is willing to pay, and who comes back time and time again. With this ‘recipe’ of understanding, creators can cook up content, experiences, products, and community that are reliably optimized for conversion and interest.”


Supporting Resources

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About Pico

Pico is the operating system for creator businesses. From email collection and subscription sales to landing pages and more, Pico’s software offers a variety of tools for creators to make money, while unifying all of the information they need about their audience in a single place. Pico is backed by top investors, including Bullpen Capital, Precursor Ventures, Stripe, Bloomberg Beta, and Village Capital.

Learn more at trypico.com

About Bullpen Capital

Bullpen Capital is a venture firm that invests in startups between their Seed and Series A rounds. This differentiated 'Post-Seed' strategy catapults startups to a supersize Series A while giving founders more control over their future. Since 2010, Bullpen has invested in nearly 80 companies projected to generate over $5 billion in annual revenues. Collectively, they have raised $1.8b in follow-on funding. Bullpen seeks out startups that have achieved product-market fit in nontraditional locations and markets ranging from sports betting and medical cannabis to the Internet of Things and the sharing economy. The portfolio includes well-known companies such as FanDuel, Wag!, SpotHero, Ipsy, and Namely. For more information visit www.bullpencap.com.

Contacts

Rodolphe Ködderitzsch

[email protected]


Julie Fredrickson

[email protected]