Startup Spotlight: Fanztar – Revolutionizing the Creator Economy

Fanztar, founded by Himanshu Garg and Sahil Singla in September 2022, offers an innovative approach to create a closer connection between followers and creators.

In the dynamic creator economy, the monetization of content poses a significant challenge for many creators in India. Existing platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, often change algorithms, impacting creators’ reach and engagement. To address this, Fanztar, founded by Himanshu Garg and Sahil Singla in September 2022, offers an innovative approach to create a closer connection between followers and creators.

Founders:

• Himanshu Garg: An IIT Delhi graduate with a background in digital product design and financial technology.
• Sahil Singla: Holds a degree in Textile Engineering and Computer Science, with experience as a Software Engineer at Snapdeal and Zalando.

Genesis: The platform emerged to help social media creators monetize their content by allowing fans to own a share of their income. Educating creators about this novel concept presented challenges, but Himanshu focused on creating a positive impact on creators’ lives.

Fanztar’s Role: Fanztar transforms creator-fan interactions by democratizing content creation. It enables creators, especially those with smaller communities, to sustain engagement by offering a share of their future earnings through digital or fan cards. These cards, acting as NFTs, provide benefits to followers and foster continued engagement.

Operational Mechanism:

1. Creators sign up on Fanztar, creating a profile to launch their fan card collection.
2. Followers purchase digital cards (NFTs) linked to creators’ intellectual property rights.
3. Fan card holders earn a share of the creator’s future earnings, such as YouTube revenue.
4. Fanztar charges a commission on card sales, offering additional services and value.

Additional Features:

• Fanztar facilitates brand-creator connections, aiding brands in identifying influencers for effective community engagement.
• The platform focuses on long-term community building and engagement, prioritizing sustainable monetization for creators.

Growth and Creator Selection:

• Over 1,000 creators onboarded, selling around 44,000 fan cards.
• Focus on creators with a following of 10,000 to 500,000 people, spanning technology, finance, lifestyle, comedy, and vlogging.

Funding:

• Raised Rs 5 crore in a Seed funding round led by India Quotient in May 2022.
• Angel investors include founders of ShareChat and prominent individuals from Softbank India and TM Ventures.

Fanztar’s innovative model redefines the creator-fan relationship, fostering a more interactive and mutually beneficial connection in the Indian creator economy.