A Toronto startup that connects companies with influential online video creators has been purchased by YouTube owner Google Inc.
FameBit, which since its founding three years ago has seen brands and YouTube content creators use its agency-free platform to collaborate on more than 25,000 videos, will now be added to Google’s arsenal of marketing services, the search giant announced in an Oct. 11 post on the YouTube blog.
“Our hope is that FameBit’s democratized marketplace will allow creators of all sizes to directly connect with brands, as well as provide a great technology solution for companies like MCNs and agencies to find matches for their creators and brand partners,” the company wrote.
For their part, FameBit founders Agnes Kozera and David Kierzkowski couldn’t be more thrilled, writing that they “can’t wait to see what the future brings” in an Oct. 11 blog post of their own.
“With Google’s relationship with brands large and small, and YouTube’s partnership with creators around the globe, we hope to connect even more brands to creators, engage more audiences, and make brand marketing more creative and authentic than ever,” they wrote.
For the time being, FameBit will continue to operate as a standalone entity, both companies wrote in their respective posts, with Google simply directing businesses interested in connecting with online video content creators to the browser-based FameBit platform, which provides them with the self-serve tools needed to find, manage, fund, and track influencers and their YouTube campaigns.
While the company ensures the marketing efforts enabled by its platform are executed in a transparent fashion, with influencers announcing sponsored content, FameBit differs from agencies such as Viral Nation Inc. in that businesses using its platform interact with the influencers directly.
Companies interested in hiring influencers can approach them based on recommendations generated by FameBit’s software, Kierzkowski told ITBusiness.ca in a previous interview, or create a campaign that influencers can bid on to complete. The businesses can then approve a video for publishing or request changes.
Check out an example of a video created through FameBit below.
