NYC Creator Economy Startup Pietra Raises $15M to Champion Creators and Streamline Entrepreneurship
Pietra, the new platform that gives Creators the tools to bring an idea for a product line or brand to life from start to finish, today announced it has raised $15M in a Series A funding round led by Founders Fund with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, TQ Ventures, Abstract Ventures and other strategic investors. To meet the growing demand of Creators using Pietra, the capital injection will be used to grow the internal team, expand the platform and supplier marketplace, and provide creators with the most efficient way to create a digital-first commerce brand, from anywhere in the world.
The platform is currently being used as a launchpad for over 20,000 creative entrepreneurs who are using Pietra to create product lines in some of the fastest growing consumer categories like beauty, candles, clothing, skincare, and jewellery. Pietra’s ambitious vision is to help power one million creator-owned product lines and brands within the next five years, all of these wholly owned by the Creators. Pietra’s Creator Hub makes creating a business much easier for highly creative folks who have a vision but don’t know where to begin. Pietra has built an experience that removes the headache from things like sourcing, warehousing, fulfilment and e-commerce, to allow Creators to focus on what really matters: engaging their audience and growing sales. Creators now have the power to develop unique products, with some of the best factories in the world, and start selling online to their audience in a matter of weeks. Traditionally this would take years.
The new funding announcement comes on the heels of Pietra’s recent official launch out of beta. Currently valued at $75M, Pietra’s revenue growth has grown 210% from January to April of this year, further underscoring the larger creator community’s desire to take control over their output and build meaningful, long term businesses. Pietra provides a transparent ecosystem with upfront costs, access to verified global manufacturing partners, and even offers features like inventory financing to make business creation more accessible to Creators of all sizes. Co-founder Ronak Trivedi has set out to unify and empower the fragmented $8 billion Creator Economy that already has 50 million individuals who are starting to earn a living online.
“I’m a firm believer that anyone with entrepreneurial spirit and an idea should have the proper infrastructure to support them in following their dream,” said Ronak Trivedi, co-founder and CEO of Pietra. “Historically only top Creators or established corporations have had access to the resources that could bring an idea to life. Pietra aims to democratize this access by enabling a single Creator to launch the next best-selling product line while maintaining creative and financial control of their brand.” Pietra puts the power back into the hands of the Creator by giving them access to a global supply chain while automating the parts of the business that are necessary but not differentiating for a growing DTC brand.”
Pietra is poised to revolutionize global commerce infrastructure and help usher in a new wave of next-gen, digital-first, brands that are looking to access everything from creative services, production, warehousing, shipping logistics to virtual storefronts that allow people to easily sell online. Accessibility to entrepreneurship has never been easier or more intuitive.
“The Creator Economy has surpassed 50 million income earners worldwide. Pietra accelerates this trend by offering entrepreneurs access to leading manufacturers in any vertical and lowering the traditional barriers to entry,” said Keith Rabois, General Partner at Founders Fund and lead Series A investor.”
In 2019, the platform raised $4 million in seed funding from Andrew Chen of Andreessen Horowitz, TQ Ventures founded by Scooter Braun, Schuster Tanger, and Andrew Marks, along with other angel investors such as Will Smith, and Robert Downey Jr. To date, Pietra has raised $20M in funding positioning it to take over and revolutionize the entrepreneurial journey and the Creator Economy at large.
To learn more about Pietra, visit www.pietrastudio.com.
