Influencer Marketing Playbook
How 3 startups used influencer marketing to grow. Here's what the data says about what they actually did.
Most Used Tools (3 companies)
Pricing Models
How They Got Their First Customer
Time to PMF
Top Categories
Top Companies by MRR (3)
Hawkers is a fashion sunglasses e-commerce company founded with just a $300 investment that grew into a $60M valuation. The founders leveraged influencer marketing partnerships and word-of-mouth advertising to expand across Europe, North America, and Asia, eventually generating €6M in monthly revenue. President Alejandro Betancourt led a €50M funding round in 2016 that catalyzed explosive scaling through social media marketing and strategic brand partnerships.
Scream Pretty is a UK-based e-commerce jewelry brand founded by Lucy Lee, an ex-TV producer, that launched in 2016 after 2 years of development. The company achieved strong growth through Instagram influencer collaborations, particularly with influencer Sammi Jefcoate, and expanded through trade shows across London. With a 33.5% conversion rate and 81% of traffic from Instagram, the brand established itself in the affordable luxury jewelry market.
Zapstream was a social live streaming platform founded in Q1 2015 that grew to 100k users by leveraging influencer marketing, particularly through a network of 30 smaller Vine and Instagram influencers. The startup raised $1M from angels but failed to secure additional funding due to an overly ambitious Series A valuation, and ultimately shut down after spending the entire $1M+ without generating any revenue due to intense competition from Meerkat, Periscope (Twitter), and Facebook Live.