Lizzo, one of several commercially known acts with a profile on KOMI. Photo credit: Daniel Benavides
KOMI, the self-proclaimed “all-in-one creator commerce platform,” has announced a $12 million Series A with participation from Sony Music Entertainment and Live Nation.
Three-year-old KOMI just announced its latest multi-million dollar round, which executives say has brought the company’s total funding to $17 million. According to its website, the platform allows users — including The Jonas Brothers, Elton John, Usher, and U2, to name a few — to populate their supposedly unified KOMI landing pages with a wealth of links, products, and content.
For example, Lizzo’s KOMI hub includes icon links to her social media accounts, as well as her Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and Amazon Music profiles. The 35-year-old has also added a Latest Release section, tour info, and physical music and merch purchase options to the all-encompassing KOMI page.
And while these purchase options are currently linked to external stores, KOMI is now poised to introduce “unique on-page checkout functionality” and “customized data collection tools” in beta, officials have announced.
Getting back to the details of the $12 million Series A: London-based RTP Global, New York-based Third Prime, Sonomo stakeholder Antler, Abu Dhabi-based E& Capital and Ticketfly investor Contour Ventures led the round.
For their part, Live Nation and Sony Music joined Vicus and Laffitte Management Group (whose clients include some KOMI users) as “strategic investors”. Going forward, KOMI intends to use the newly secured capital to expand its core offering and expand its team in the US, “with a focus” on partnerships between developers and marketing functions.
Lewis Crosbie, co-founder and CEO of KOMI, addressed the round in a statement, citing the perceived “enormous commercial potential” of the creator economy in the coming years, citing a report by Goldman Sachs.
“The creator economy is on track to grow to $480 billion by 2027, proving that creators have tremendous commercial potential given the trust and reach they’ve gained from their fans,” said Crosbie, whose company reportedly “has seen more than 500% growth in creators who queued since December 2022.”
“However,” concluded the former Sensat executive, “creators and brands currently lack the digital infrastructure they need to maximize this opportunity, which is why KOMI is focused on building three pillars that we believe are most important for creatives to realize their commercial potential, namely: content, commerce and community.”
Earlier this week, fan monetization platform Passes acquired rival “subscription social media platform” Fanhouse, and after paying preliminary payments under Creator Ads Revenue Sharing, Twitter is in the process of optimizing and expanding the program.