Influencer marketing has become pervasive in recent years as more brands turn to social media content creators to promote their products or services. Even as influencer marketing is flourishing, the industry faces a few challenges, such as democratizing monetization opportunities and efficiently managing and tracking campaigns.
Delhi-based Cloutflow is among a handful of startups trying to address these and related problems for content creators and brands. Founded in 2020 by Shivam Arora and Vanshika Batra, Cloutflow is a technology-driven influencer marketing company that aspires to be “Google Ads-equivalent for influencer marketing campaigns.”
Cloutflow is essentially a brand collaboration platform that aims to serve as a management platform for creators, who can track all campaigns, connect with brands and easily withdraw funds through a single app.
Arora told Entrackr that lots of content creators face issues with timely payments. The startup aims to speed up the payment cycle to around 24 hours, which is significantly more effective than the current payments cycle of what’s believed to be roughly six days to 45 days.
Arora further explained that creators have to compete with certain influencers who have mostly fake followers and don’t give any value to brands from their campaigns. Cloutflow aims to bring transparency to a large extent as it ensures brands collaborate with influencers who have organic followers.
Other services that the platform provides include after-campaign reporting for the optimization of influencer campaigns. Creators/influencers can join the platform for free and do not require to pay a subscription or fee to collaborate with any brand.
The startup currently caters to brands in the beauty and fashion segments. Arora said the company will soon expand to include health and wellness categories, as well. At the moment, the company is working with over 1 lakh creators and D2C brands like Wow Skincare, Dot & Key, Lotus, Mamaearth, Vega, and Facescanada.
Arora disclosed that the company is also looking to tap into the US market. The foray will have the same model as the one implemented in India, he added, without divulging more details.
Cloutflow raised an undisclosed sum in a pre-seed funding round from Aroa Ventures and Ritesh Agarwal in December 2021. Arora revealed that the company would raise more funds, around $5 million, soon. He added that the fresh capital would be used to scale and diversify the product.
As mentioned above, influencer marketing is evolving into a big industry, estimated to be worth Rs 12 billion. The industry is set to be worth Rs 28 billion by 2026. Some of the companies that have turned unicorns in the influencer marketing space are Mavrck and Izea.
