Storyboard18 | 'Want creators to become brands and not brands to become creators', Laurent Hulin, Jellysmack

After it received funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2 last year, Jellysmack has been on an expansion spree. The company earmarked US$ 750 million for its global expansion with India being a key market on its growth map. It has since expanded into key overseas markets such as Brazil, Australia, U.K., Germany and Mexico.

The company recently launched the largest program of its kind that offers upfront capital to fuel creators' new business ideas, brand growth, and content creation in exchange for licensing videos from the creator's YouTube library. Under this program, which will be available to Indian creators as well, Jellysmack will offer lumpsum payments to qualifying creators.

Ex-Googler, Vipasha Joshi, who has been appointed as Jellysmack’s country manager for India, will drive the expansion of its Creator portfolio and the development of the India team, which currently has 25 members. The company plans to increase this number 3x this year.

In a conversation with Storyboard18, Laurent Hulin, GM APAC, Jellysmack, said the creator economy in India, similar to global trends, is experiencing phenomenal growth, bolstered by prolonged stay-at-home periods, especially during the pandemic.

Nearly two-thirds of the Indian population follow an influencer and 100 percent of marketing leaders have agreed that influencer marketing was a top priority for their marketing calendar for 2021, as per industry reports. With 232 million daily active users of vernacular content and 90 percent of content being consumed in native languages by them, “a large number of users from tier 2 and 3 cities will be signing up to consume short video content. Content creators in these markets will be a key focus for us," added Hulin.

Hulin also said the company’s focus in India is on creators and media companies, not brands.“However, by building the right audience and content for our creator partners, we will be able to support brands in reaching their target audience across social platforms - especially when collaborating with creators at scale. We want creators to become brands and not brands to become creators.”

India’s influencer market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 percent till 2025 to reach a size of Rs 2,200 crore, according to GroupM INCA’s India Influencer Marketing Report. Hulin believes monetization opportunities for creators are growing more than ever before. “As this ecosystem matures in India, we will see creators launch their own brands as well, a trend we are witnessing in the US, like MrBeast who has launched Feastables, a better-for-you-snacking brand,” he stated.

With over 74 million unique viewers a month and 2 billion organic video views, Jellysmack works with over 500 of the world’s most influential creators. These creators have earned over US$ 150 million to date, claimed the company.