Beacons Secures $6 Million Seed Funding to Empower Creators

Beacons, a mobile landing page builder, has successfully completed a $6 million seed funding round. This investment will be used to further develop the company’s mission of enabling creators to generate revenue independently of social media platforms.

Founded by Neal Jean, Jesse Zhang, Greg Luppescu, and David Zeng, Beacons provides a mobile-optimized link hub. This allows social media users to showcase a consolidated set of links to their audience.

A Competitive Landscape

Similar to Linktree, Beacons offers a solution for directing followers from platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter to external websites. These links can include opportunities for income, such as donation requests and affiliate marketing opportunities.

The “link in bio” market also includes several other players. These are Shorby, Milkshake, Tap.bio, Link in Profile, bio.fm, and Campsite.

From Y Combinator to Seed Funding

Beacons initially launched in a private beta phase in September 2020. This followed its participation in the Y Combinator Summer 2019 program.

Andreessen Horowitz is leading the current seed round. Additional investors include Atelier Ventures, The Chainsmokers’ Mantis Fund, Night Ventures, and LOUDgg, a prominent Brazilian esports organization.

Expanding the Team and Platform

This $6 million seed round supplements a previous $600,000 angel investment. The additional capital will facilitate the expansion of Beacons’ team. Specifically, the company plans to hire more engineers and designers.

Currently, Beacons operates with a small team of four first-time founders.

Differentiation Through Customization

Neal Jean, co-founder and CEO of Beacons, explained the company’s unique approach to TechCrunch. “We differentiate ourselves from Linktree by offering creators extensive customization options for their pages, all available on our free plan.”

He further stated, “Creators prioritize the visual presentation of their online presence. Providing these features has proven effective in attracting users and increasing our market share.”

Addressing Limitations of Social Media Platforms

Social media companies often provide limited support for embedded links. This is particularly true within individual content pieces.

Furthermore, many platforms restrict users to a single URL in their profile. This limitation places significant pressure on creators to maximize the effectiveness of that single link.

Beacons contends that these restrictions inherent in most social platforms hinder creators’ ability to easily and flexibly monetize their content.

A Vision for a Creator Ecosystem

“Initially, our focus is on developing a wide range of features for creators,” Jean noted. “However, our long-term goal is to evolve into a platform or ecosystem where others can contribute and build upon our foundation.”

“Currently, we resemble a Wix or Squarespace tailored for content creators. However, our future ambition is to become more akin to Shopify, specifically designed for creators.”

Beacons: Expanding Creator Options

Beacons provides its users with both complimentary and paid subscription levels. The “entrepreneur” plan, priced at $10 monthly, introduces several compelling functionalities, notably the ability to utilize custom domains and an increased allocation of “blocks.” These blocks – encompassing links, text elements, and images – form the foundational components of a Beacons page.

In addition to its tiered pricing structure, Beacons generates revenue through commission on sales facilitated by its specialized monetization blocks. These include a shopping-integrated TikTok feed, a digital marketplace for videos and ebooks, and a “requests” feature enabling creators to directly offer bespoke content to their audience.

Transaction fees differ based on the chosen plan. Beacons’ free tier applies a 9% charge on each transaction, whereas the premium tier reduces this fee to 5%.

Customization and Features

Websites constructed via Beacons offer extensive customization options, reminiscent of the highly personalized homepages prevalent during the Myspace era.

Recently, the platform introduced the “community block,” a dedicated space for creators to showcase frequent collaborators, particularly relevant on platforms like TikTok where collaborative content is common.

Currently, notable individuals such as Sia, Green Day, and Russell Brand are utilizing the Beacons platform.

Additional Capabilities

• Beacons facilitates mobile marketing initiatives through both email and SMS messaging.
• Comprehensive analytics are provided to assist creators in gaining insights into their audience demographics and behavior.

The company reports a consistent 70% monthly growth rate in its user base since its launch in October.

“Contemporary content creators and their audiences possess expectations that exceed the capabilities of current social media platforms,” stated Jean in the official funding announcement.

“Beacons empowers creators to take ownership of their online presence by directing traffic to a personalized domain that is visually appealing, easily shared, and ultimately, revenue-generating.”