# Curastory Financial Model Creator-economy video marketplace that lets video creators embed brand-sponsored ad segments and distribute across platforms, taking a 30% marketplace fee. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/curastory - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/curastory.xlsx - Category: Marketplace - Model type: Marketplace / GMV - Funding round: Seed - Funding: $2M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: US (beta industries: Sports, Fitness, CPG, Health & Wellness) [DECK slide 12]. - Customer: B2C ## About the company Curastory is a creator-economy video marketplace that helps creators place sponsored segments in videos distributed across platforms. Creators get production, editing, music, and distribution tools, while brands buy audience-targeted campaigns and measure return through a dashboard. The platform is free to creators and takes 30% of each advertising transaction. The deck reported $123,979 of actual and committed GMV and $37,194 of net revenue in its first six months, alongside 2,230 sign-ups and 82% user retention. The model builds brand GMV from active creators, videos, views, CPM, and campaign demand, then applies the 30% marketplace fee. Equipment-rental subscriptions and future conversion-based revenue remain separate lines. Creator activation, advertiser spend, campaign retention, and acquisition cost show whether rapid early growth can become durable marketplace economics. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Free platform for video creators: editing tools, music licensing, one-click cross-platform distribution. - Creators embed creator-recorded advertisement segments (not platform ads) into their videos; brands pay per 1,000 views. - Brands access audience-targeted campaigns, track ROAS via dashboard. - Key differentiation vs. YouTube/influencer platforms: brand-agnostic video upload first; royalty-based payment (never download ad spots); non-compete conflict alerts via tag matching. - Three-stage evolution: - Today (Pre-Seed): creator social channels; $X CPM model. - Seed: video royalties; adds % CPC + CPM on embedded spots distributed anywhere. - Series A+: white-label channel for creators (subscription + upgrades for gated content, fan support, merch). ## Market - TAM: $1 Trillion - total digital ad spending. - SAM: $31 Billion - digital video ad spending. - SOM: $782 Million - digital video ad spending from beta industries (Sports, Fitness, CPG, Health & Wellness). - Creator economy growth: +20% YoY increase in number of content creators 2017–2020; ~$990M revenue generated from new content creators 2017–2020. - 82% of audiences prefer video content; 88% watch most or all creator-recorded ads. - Brands spend avg. $12K for in-studio video advertising. ## Revenue model - **Stream 1 - Marketplace fee (primary):** 30% take rate on each video ad transaction. - Base rate: $30 per 1,000 video views paid by brand to creator; Curastory retains $9/1K views. - Brand commitment tiers: month-to-month or 4-month lock-in. - **Stream 2 - Video equipment rentals (secondary):** $35/month or $50/month subscription plans. - Future streams (Seed stage): % of CPC on ad spot conversions + embedded view-through CPM. - Future streams (Series A+): creator platform subscriptions + feature upgrade upsells. - Platform is free to creators; monetization is purely on brand spend. ## Traction & metrics - GMV (actual + committed): $123,979 - months 1–6. - Net Revenue (NR): $37,194 - months 1–6. (Implies ~30% take rate on GMV, consistent with stated fee.) - NR CMGR: 100%. - CLTV: $10,514. - User retention: 82% retained, 18% loss (based on user app activity). - Sign-ups: 2,230. - Active beta users: 15% of sign-ups (~335 users implied). - CLTV:CAC ratio: 876:1. - Acquisition channels: 50% Sales (inbound + outbound), 38% Network (referrals + word of mouth), 12% Content marketing. - Milestones completed: NCAA approval, NBPA partnership. ## Unit economics - CLTV: $10,514. - CLTV:CAC ratio: 876:1. Implies CAC ≈ $12 ($10,514 / 876) - extremely low, consistent with word-of-mouth / referral-heavy acquisition. - Gross margin: Not explicitly stated. Deck says COGS = 5% of spend, but this is spend allocation not a gross margin disclosure. - Creator earnings uplift claim: illustrative case study (Valerie Loureda) shows $973/month on legacy platforms → $14,834/month on Curastory - driven by TikTok's 175.5K avg views at $30 CPM. ## Competition / moat - Named non-competitors (influencer-matching platforms): YouTube BrandConnect, AspireIQ, #paid, rewardStyle, OpenSponsorship, Upfluence, Opendorse. - Feature moat vs. YouTube / Vimeo: brand sponsorship video matching; creator-recorded ad spots; non-compete compatibility; auto-posting to all social channels - all claimed absent in YouTube/Vimeo. - Structural moat: brands never download ad spots (always tracked for royalty payment); non-compete conflict alerts on tag matching. - Positioning is "podcast advertising model for video" - show-level matching, not campaign-level influencer matching. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - **Team:** Tiffany Kelly (Founder + CEO), Shane Austrie (CTO), Lilliana Antequera (Head of Customer Success), D'Bria Bradshaw (Head of Public Policy), Reisa Forster (UX/UI), Oliver Do (BE Engineer). Past experience: ESPN, NBA, NCAA, Muscle Milk, Booksy, Reddit, Facebook. - **Advisors:** Dan Zigmond (Director @ Apple, ex-FB/IG/YT/Google - executive coaching); Jamie Lund (Partner @ SOF, ex-Poly/Digitas/TED - brand acquisition). - **Current investors:** Lightspeed, Republic, Techstars. - **Funding ask:** $1.25M (Seed, Tranche 2). - **Use of funds:** - SG&A: 72% - Advertising + Marketing: 16% - Legal & Professional: 7% - COGS: 5% - **Prior raises:** $207K pre-seed; $500K Tranche 1 (in-progress / committed per milestone slide). --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Two-sided marketplace GMV model with take-rate revenue, plus a subscription ancillary line. The core engine is brand GMV (views × CPM rate) with Curastory capturing 30% as net revenue. This is closest to a creator-economy/ad-marketplace model - analogous to Patreon/Substack monetization mechanics layered on a GMV volume driver. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 3 years monthly (36 months). Month-level needed because NR CMGR is currently 100% (doubling monthly) and the business is pre-PMF - cohort behavior matters. Roll up to annual P&L for investor summary. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** *Creator supply side:* - Active creators (month 1 seed): 335 (~15% of 2,230 sign-ups) - Monthly creator growth rate: 15%/mo base case - step-down from current 100% NR CMGR as base normalizes post-seed - Videos per creator per month: 4 (2 long-form + 2 short-form per Valerie case study) - Average views per video: 50,000 blended - weighted avg. across YouTube, TikTok, IGTV, Facebook Watch; deck case study shows 175.5K TikTok + smaller YouTube/IGTV *Brand demand side / pricing:* - CPM rate (brand pays per 1K views): $30 - Monetization rate (% of videos with a brand ad): 40% base case - not all creator videos will be sponsored at launch - Curastory take rate: 30% - Brand commitment mix: 60% month-to-month / 40% 4-month - affects revenue recognition smoothing *Equipment rental:* - Rental subscribers: 5% of active creators at $42.50/mo blended ($35/$50 plans) - Rental churn: 10%/mo *Unit economics:* - CLTV: $10,514 - CLTV:CAC: 876:1 → implied CAC ≈ $12 - Creator retention: 82%/mo - Brand retention: 70% - slightly lower than creator retention; brands re-evaluate campaigns; informed by 4-month commitment option *Cost structure (seeded from use-of-funds allocation):* - SG&A: 72% of total spend → headcount-driven; model as FTE count × avg. salary - Advertising + Marketing: 16% of total spend - Legal & Professional: 7% of total spend - COGS (platform infra + creator payouts beyond marketplace net): 5% of total spend - Raise proceeds: $1.25M → model as 18-month runway assumption - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - Base: 15% monthly creator growth; 40% monetization rate; $30 CPM holds; 82% creator retention - Bull: 25% monthly creator growth; 60% monetization rate; CPM rises to $40 as brand demand scales; NBPA/NCAA partnerships drive step-change creator adds - Bear: 8% monthly creator growth; 25% monetization rate; CPM pressure to $20; brand churn spikes to 50%/mo - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions** - all drivers centralized, color-coded inputs 2. **Creator Cohort Model** - monthly creator adds, retention waterfall, cumulative active creators 3. **GMV Build** - active creators × videos/creator × avg views × monetization rate × CPM / 1,000 4. **Revenue** - GMV × 30% take rate + equipment rental MRR 5. **P&L** - Revenue less COGS, SG&A, Marketing, Legal; EBITDA and net income 6. **Cash Flow & Runway** - operating cash burn + $1.25M raise proceeds; months of runway 7. **Unit Economics Summary** - CAC, CLTV, LTV:CAC, payback by cohort 8. **Scenarios Dashboard** - Base / Bull / Bear toggles on key drivers ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Curastory financial model free? Yes. The Curastory model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.