Popular Pays refocused its influencer model and raised a $5.5M Series B

Popular Pays started in Chicago in 2013 to connect brands with social-media influencers. By the time of the reported round, it still made those connections, but its proposition had changed: brands could write a campaign brief, review creator portfolios, approve work and track engagement after launch.

That repositioning gave the company an operating model beyond introductions. Since its 2017 Series A, headcount rose from 23 to 40; it had offices in New York and Los Angeles, customers such as Macy’s, Coca-Cola and Amazon, and partnerships with Pinterest and Facebook. The new capital was earmarked for sales and product development.

It grew from 23 to 40 employees, added New York and Los Angeles offices, landed Macy’s, Coca-Cola and Amazon, and raised a $5.5M Series B.

A matching service left brands to run the campaign themselves.

A structured brief let brands specify requirements before choosing creators.

Review, communication and post-launch metrics made the service accountable after selection.

When a marketplace is too narrow, keep the supply-side network but sell a fuller job-to-be-done: campaign execution, selection, review and measurement.

The company ended the reported period as a funded, multi-city platform rather than a local influencer connector. Its next move was to spend the Series B on sales and product development, extending the managed-campaign model.