Israeli influencer marketing startup Humanz raises $8m to accelerate growth

Humanz, an AI powered influencer marketing platform that connects influencers & content creators with brands, announced it has closed an $8 million seed round led by the Stardom Ventures fund.

The round was joined by More Investment House and the Schestowitz Group, who following successful use of the platform across all its brands over a two-year period, chose to invest in the company. The money will be used to continue development of Humanz unique technology, accelerate growth in the US market, develop additional technologies in the world of e-Commerce and recruit employees in the fields of data and development.

Danny Peled, Managing Director, Stardom Ventures said: "The growth of the content creator economy and brands that appeal directly to the consumer are two key vectors of our venture capital fund. Humanz's unique product and technology, combined with the company's rapid growth in several territories, testify to its potential and team quality. We deeply understand the needs of the market. We are very excited to join Humanz's journey."

Humanz technology, developed by five 8200 alumni whose work focused on detecting security threats, enables the management and measurement of influencer campaigns. The founders developed a collection of algorithms that categorize the behavior of each influencer and all their followers to enable brands to find the perfect influencer fit for their campaign goals. Additionally, Humanz makes information available to Influencers through the Humanz App, where influencers have access to their personal data to best understand their audiences and therefore create relatable content geared toward the specific audience. For the development of these complex and proprietary algorithms the company received a $1 million grant from the Innovation Authority of Israel.

Inbal Dror, Director of Social Media and Influencers, Schestowitz: "Since we started working with Humanz, we have experienced a 30% improvement in our return on investment from working with influencers. Humanz's platform provides us with a work environment that contains broad, accurate and unique information about the influencer market that we could not find with any other supplier. Therefore, our collaboration with Humanz has expanded in just two years from working with one brand to all our brands and finally an investment in the company and technology."

Today, Humanz works with global brands including Unilever, Adidas, Kimberly-Clark & McDonalds, all of whom have reported a significant increase in sales since adopting the platform. Recently, the company launched The Humanz Pixel, a one-of-a-kind tracking tool that enables clients to monitor influencer sales performance across digital channels. This includes tracking whether a buyer was exposed to an influencer's content around the time of purchase (with or without a trackable influencer link).

Liav Rafael Chen, CEO and Co-founder, Humanz: "Since 2018, Humanz has consistently tripled our revenue each year. Our customers now include over 300 leading brands around the world, some of which include giants like Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Disney and Procter & Gamble. We recently set up operations in the United States where one of our first clients is Google who uses Humanz' proprietary technology to find influencers to create content aimed at raising awareness around the 'scam' phenomenon currently infiltrating social networks. Many brands have been burned in an attempt to work with influencers and have testified that it feels like going to a casino where sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. As a result, the influencer industry is often synonymous with being unprofessional and untrustworthy. In a world where you can buy followers for as little as $2, Humanz delivers reliable, up-to-date data which makes it the perfect solution for brands and influencer/advertising agencies"

www.humanz.com