There are many talented people in Southeast Asia, such as chefs and musicians, who can earn money by working online, says Tips Tips Founder Albert Lucius. But many of them don’t have the social media clout to attract advertisers. TipTip wants to use an offline/online strategy to help them build a following in the community and monetize by selling content instead of relying on advertising algorithms.The Indonesia-based startup announced today that it has raised $13 million in Series A funding in just eight months After completing a $10 million Series A round in March.
The latest round was led by East Ventures, with participation from returning investors Vertex, SMDV and BIG Ventures.
TipTip was founded in October 2021 by Albert Lucius, whose Previous startup Kudo was acquired by Grab in 2017. It serves as a marketplace for creators to connect with their fans and monetize it by selling content like videos and documents to their fans or hosting live video conferences.
The platform launched in July and says its revenue has grown 20-fold since October, with creators earning an average of more than $200 within 30 days of being active on TipTip.
TipTip currently has 2,500 content creators and over 30,000 users. It aims to recruit more than 30,000 creators and 300,000 users by early next year. It is currently focused on Indonesia, with operations in 40 cities.
TipTip’s target demographic, such as local chefs, musicians, and painters, still doesn’t have much of a following and needs to build their audience. To enable them to scale and monetize, TipTip employs a hyperlocal strategy in Indonesian towns and cities, helping them host events tailored to their communities.
Lucius said TipTip’s team found that after COVID hit, many people became accustomed to the idea of making money virtually, as interest in consuming digital content also rose. Based on research they obtained from Research and Markets, Digital Journal, and Statista, they found that the creator economy in Southeast Asia is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 10% to 30%.
But Lucius said many Southeast Asian creators cannot monetize through tools on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Patreon, which are more suitable for top creators who already have a large following and views and can attract advertisers.
According to Lucius, TipTip is different from social media platforms in that it provides creators with end-to-end solutions, including digital content management and distribution, live streaming services, one-on-one interaction and direct tipping. Its platform also helps creators with governance issues such as audience management, know-your-customer (KYC), payment systems, and scheduling.
“There are many players who have become industry leaders in these areas. We see them as necessary and complementary to our services. In fact, we rely on our creators/promoters to continue using external platforms to reach their audiences, post updates, Advertise their free product there and provide a link back to TipTip to monetize their premium content,” says Lucius.
Instead of advertising, TipTip offers a direct monetization channel through tips and direct purchases, and takes a cut of every sale made on its platform.
Examples of content shared on TipTip include edutainment in categories such as music. Musicians use the platform to share tips on how to create better songs, sometimes accompanied by live performances. Another example is the creator of a multi-part course on how to be a better public speaker, which includes live workshops.
TipTip also has a Promoter Network that helps creators sell their content. Promoters are often affiliates or resellers in their own small communities and receive a commission on each sale, Lucius said. “The analogy is how Uber Eats helps restaurants sell more food,” Lucius said. “In our case, promoters help creators sell their digital content.”
To create the creator pipeline, TipTip uses an awareness program by partnering with its top creators, using online marketing campaigns, and executing hyperlocal strategies to find key opinion leaders (KOLs), or top influencers, in each community.
Part of TipTip’s financing will be used to recruit more creators, promoters and supporters. It will also create more products such as podcasts, brand deals and personalized requests, so creators have more potential revenue streams, and expand its offline/online presence to 250 towns and cities in Indonesia by the middle of next year.
Willson Cuaca, co-founder and managing partner of East Ventures, said in a statement about the funding: “We strongly believe in Albert’s leadership at TipTip. Kudo’s experience will remain critical as we navigate a volatile economy as we head into 2023. We expect TipTip to continue its exponential growth trajectory on the back of its very adaptable hyperlocal strategy in the post-COVID era of ever-changing creations operator and customer behavior.”
