Passionfroot, a German startup that operates a marketplace linking B2B creators with brands, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $15 million in a Series A funding round, led by Insight Partners. Rebecca Liu-Doyle, managing director at Insight Partners, noted that Passionfroot is well-positioned at a time when creators are increasingly specializing, especially as AI companies seek greater visibility. "Passionfroot has the perfect dynamics on both sides to warrant a true marketplace for B2B creators. On the demand side, there is increasing consumerization of the way B2B brands go to market. That’s a product of, in part, AI technology requiring evangelism, narrative building and education," she said.

With this funding, the Berlin-based startup's co-founder and CEO, Jen Phan, is relocating to New York, where Passionfroot is opening an office to expand its U.S. operations. The company is also establishing a presence in Sao Paulo and growing its current workforce of 15 employees. Phan explained that as AI simplifies product development, companies are turning to creators to enhance brand recall and recognition. "Every head of marketing or growth leader I’m talking to is saying really the same thing: AI is commoditizing software and flooding every category with new products, features, and launches. It’s incredibly crowded and noisy. That is why B2B buyers are going to channels like LinkedIn, a creator’s Substack, or a podcast on YouTube to discover new products and tools," she said.

Over the past year, Passionfroot has seen its revenue increase by 13 times and has onboarded clients such as ElevenLabs, Figma, Replit, Framer, and Gamma. Since its last fundraising round in 2024, the company launched an AI agent called Zest, which assists brands in creating, executing, and monitoring campaign performance. Passionfroot claims Zest can also help companies identify suitable creators both on and off the platform that align with their marketing strategies.

The startup says it leverages a proprietary creator graph built on data regarding reach and performance from thousands of campaigns. It also offers a wallet feature that allows companies to pay creators globally and track their spending. Passionfroot reports that it has paid at least $10 million to creators on its platform over the last 18 months. The company is currently focused on helping clients measure how campaigns influence AI citations and how their brand appears in AI-generated responses. Additionally, Passionfroot plans to develop AI tools for creators, including features for monetization tips and content ideas.

This funding arrives as creator platforms like Substack and Beehiiv work to help creators find better monetization opportunities. Beehiiv recently launched a new community and ad marketplace, while Substack introduced subscriber-only perks within newsletters. Passionfroot's Series A also saw participation from existing investors Creandum, Supernode Global, and s16vc. To date, the company has raised over $21 million.