A new Seattle startup is launching next month targeting the influencers and creatives who make TikTok and Instagram popular.
LitPic believes it can differentiate itself in a hotly competitive space with built-in tools that allow all creators to make money on the app. The platform has four revenue streams that allow fans of creators to send them money. LitPic provides a back-end talent agency that connects influencers with relevant brands looking to partner.
Creators can earn money in the app through direct payments from followers, premium content subscriptions, and brand deals.
“Most social media platforms think only in terms of advertising,” LitPic marketing chief Andy Karuza said in a statement. “We’re taking a different approach, one that’s designed off a self-sustaining peer-driven economy, which we call a ‘creator economy.'”
LitPic is currently in an invite-only beta and has begun recruiting influencers, including residents of The ClubHouse, a creator mansion in Beverly Hills. The app will be available on iOS and Android starting in September. LitPic has raised $450,000 from angel investors and has about 20 employees, according to CEO Maurice Yi.
LitPic creators pay $10 a month to use the service and retain 100% of the money their followers pay them using a built-in currency called Lits. It’s similar to the model used in game streaming services like Twitch, Yi said.
“Consumer and e-commerce is merging together in the future,” Yi said. “A lot of these people want to get paid … right now on TikTok and Instagram the only way to get paid is if you’re a big influencer.”
Yi brings experience working in talent booking, product design, marketing, and event production to LitPic. But even for industry giants such as Facebook, attracting followers to a new social app is a difficult business.
Lasso, the app Facebook developed to compete with TikTok, failed to gain traction and shut down less than two years after launching. This week, Facebook debuted its second attempt to compete with TikTok using Reels, a feature built into the already-popular Instagram app. Meanwhile, Thriller, another TikTok rival, is nearing unicorn status.
Competitors are emerging at a vulnerable moment for TikTok, which faces a potential ban in the U.S. if it isn’t acquired in 45 days. President Donald Trump codified his plans to ban the app in an executive order Thursday, adding pressure to acquisition talks between Microsoft and the app’s parent company, ByteDance.
“I think we’re trending towards an economic cold war and these technology platforms are at the center of it,” said Karuza, a Seattle startup vet who also serves as CEO of the automobile hardware startup FenSens. “This opens up an opportunity for U.S.-based apps.”
