HypeScout, a SaaS-based Bangladeshi influencer marketing startup, has raised USD 2.8 lakh in pre-seed funding.
The round was led by Anchorless Bangladesh, a New York-based early-stage venture capital firm active in the local startup ecosystem. The round also saw participation from Green Bridge Capital, based in the United Kingdom.
Quazi Zulquarnain, Director of Global Strategy and Operations at Uber, Eddie Bearnot, CEO at Frontier Nutrition Inc, S. Nibras Islam, Director at SSL Wireless, and a few more local and international angels, facilitated and advised by Bangladesh Angels Network, have also participated in this round.
Founded in 2021, HypeScout connects influencers with advertisers by letting influencers monetise their follower base. The SaaS platform ensures end-to-end management of a brand's influencer campaign.
Bangladeshi brands and agencies usually struggle to find and manage influencers since the process is time-consuming as it requires back-and-forth communication with relevant influencers. HypeScout simplifies this process for brands through a standardised and automated filtering mechanism and dashboard.
Influencers face similar issues while scouting openings for campaigns from brands. Micro-influencers with a follower base of around 5-50 thousand find it hard to get the right deals to work with.
The platform creates opportunities for these micro-influencers to monetise their follower base by giving them exposure to brands.
With a data-driven approach, the platform provides audience information and insights into publicly unavailable influencers.
Currently, the company serves over 4500 brands, and around 32,000 influencers earn directly from the platform. They have worked with brands like bKash, Nagad, GrameenPhone, Foodpanda, Pathao, Domino's pizza, Suzuki etc. International brands like Nodwin Gaming, and PUBG Mobile have also subscribed to their services.
Some renowned agencies like Magnito Digital, Axiata Digital Bangladesh, Wavemaker, Asiatic Mindshare, Jarvis Digital, and Roebuck have subscribed to the services.
"We started with only 50 influencers in 2021. The number has reached over thirty-two thousand now. We are serving an array of local and international brands and agencies to find the right influencers for them. With over six years of marketing expertise, I realised that an automated platform like HypeScout was necessary. However, after starting, I realised that we were not only helping advertisers but also inspiring thousands of young and creative content creators, which is overwhelming," said Faym Bappi, Co-founder and CEO of HypeScout.
HypeScout aims to focus on further product development and monitoring influencer content quality. The team is now building smart algorithms to help advertisers find relevant influencers for their campaigns more effectively. The company is prioritising on bringing hyper-growth in the market and is aiming to onboard over 100,000 influencers and brands within the next year.
"Consumers in Bangladesh have increasingly higher disposable incomes where everyone is looking for products and services that are unique to them. HypeScout's technology allows brands to connect with them where both sides benefit," remarked Rahat Ahmed, Founding Partner and CEO of Anchorless Bangladesh, regarding the investment.
Influencer marketing has grown to become a USD 16.4 billion industry globally and is projected to reach USD 143 billion by 2030. HypeScout wants to tap into this novel niche by creating seamless systems to bridge the gap between influencers and advertisers –– strengthening the overall infrastructure and growth of Bangladesh's budding influencer marketing industry.
