Celebrity video service Cameo has reeled in $100 million in venture capital “to help fuel the future of the connection economy.” The company said that the latest round of funding pegs Cameo’s valuation at just over $1 billion.
The company’s total funding is now $165 million, according to a press release. Looking ahead, Cameo said that, in the future, “talent will have a personal relationship with all their fans.”
The company said the latest round was led Joseph Turner of e.Ventures, who is joining the company’s board. Cameo is “fundamentally changing the relationship between talent and fans,” Turner said.
“We exist in an entirely different world” regarding sports and entertainment, said Cameo CEO Steven Galanis. The talent actually wants “to connect more deeply with their fans, and fans expect unprecedented access to the talent they admire most. The funding will help us create the access and connections that will define the future of the ‘connection economy.’”
Galanis said that “the personalized video message” has been the mainstay of its business. About 80 percent of Cameos are “booked as gifts for others,” such as for birthdays.
The news release said that “new strategic investors” include GV (formerly Google Ventures, Amazon’s Alexa Fund and UTA Ventures. “Growth investors” include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Valor Equity Partners and Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley).
In keeping with its business, there are also “talent investors,” most notably skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk. Existing investors that came back for another funding round are Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, the Chemin Group and Origin Ventures.
In 2020, Cameo had a “wild ride [and] business exploded,” according to a January press release. The company’s workforce went remote, and won’t be headed back to the office. Also, Cameo “brought on some big new names” — including Quibi and Hulu, LinkedIn, McDonald’s, Bustle Digital Group, Instagram, Hims & Hers, and Reddit.
The pandemic has led to big changes in how companies operate — with video conferencing taking off and Zoom becoming a household name. In short, the connected economy got a big jolt in 2020.
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