Written by Alex Bredeen
PLAYE raises pre-seed round, led by Haymarket Media Group, with Fuel Ventures and 1in100 Ventures
Fuel Ventures has participated in a strategic pre-seed round in content creation platform, Playe. The startup enables brands to seamlessly partner with its global network of creatives, to create tailored content of any kind, wherever they need it. Playe provides the cloud based tools for this ecosystem to collaborate, and its unique infrastructure overcomes the locational cost and sustainability challenges traditionally associated with global content creation.
Why now?
The Covid-19 pandemic has played a major role in the rise of the gig economy for creatives. As businesses and organisations have been forced to cut back on expenses and adapt to the challenges of the pandemic, many have turned to gig workers to fill gaps in their workforce. This has created a surge in demand for creative gig workers, who are able to offer their skills on a flexible, project-by-project basis.
The emerging global market for creative gig work is expected to hit $450bn in 2023, with 5 out of top to 10 most in demand gig skills being of a creative nature.
Heightened competition, and a changing demand for skills has also started to push Enterprise customers towards engaging directly with gig workers, in pursuit of a more cost effective and nimble creative supply.
The backing from Fuel Ventures, alongside other investors including Haymarket Media Group and 1in100 Ventures, has allowed Playe to make its official market launch today in the UK, Europe and Australia. The funding will be used to focus on Playe’s international expansion and accelerating product delivery.
Playe has quickly established itself as the go-to resource for international brands including McKinsey, Mr Yum, Bloomreach and Catawiki, looking to scale their creative capability, in response to increasing demands for localised content. More than 350 creatives are already using the platform to connect with the brands who need them.
About the Founders
Playe was formed in 2021 by co-founders Jonas Espvall, Mitch Brown and Rob Older. Their combined, extensive knowledge in content creation comes from years of experience, working at companies including Adobe, Google and Salesforce.
Mitch Brown has spent the last decade taking innovative solutions to market, with a focus on solving high value problems in enterprise brands. Working across both ANZ and EMEA, Mitch has been highly successful in various senior commercial roles in both startups and tier 1 big tech. Prior to Playe, he led complex data transformations within Strategic Media Accounts at Adobe, where he was responsible for bringing on over $12M in recurring SaaS business.
Jonas Espvall has worked in tech for the last 13 years, joining Google in 2009. He joined the UK founding team of Wildfire in 2012, which was later acquired by - Google. Since 2014 he’s held a variety of leadership and operational roles. Predominantly within SaaS businesses and more recently Regional Director, Northern Europe at Salesforce.
Rob Older is a content and production professional who has worked within the online video and tech startup space since 2010. His broad set of skills & expertise include: end-to-end content creation & delivery, project, client and team management, creative planning & strategy, marketing communications and business development. A content creator at heart, he’s passionate about innovation, travel and health & wellness.
If you are an entrepreneur looking for investment, please apply here or email your deck at alexb@fuel.ventures or reach out to me on LinkedIn.
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