Passionfroot, a German startup building a marketplace that connects B2B creators and brands, announced Wednesday that it has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Insight Partners.
Insight Partners managing director Rebecca Lew Doyle said Passion Flute is well-positioned at a time when creators are specializing as AI companies seek to gain greater visibility.
“Passionfroot has the perfect dynamics on both sides to ensure a true marketplace for B2B creators. On the demand side, there is an increasing consumerization of how B2B brands go to market. In a nutshell, it’s a product of AI technology that requires evangelism, story building, and education. On the supply side, there are people who have real expertise, who have a deep understanding of the market, and who want to create quality content,” she told TechCrunch over the phone.
With the funding, the Berlin-based startup’s co-founder and CEO Jen Huang will move to New York, where Passion Flute plans to open an office to expand its U.S. operations. The company also plans to open an office in São Paulo, increasing its current number of employees to 15.
As AI makes product development easier, companies are focusing on leveraging creators to improve brand recall and awareness, Huang said.
“Every marketing executive and growth leader I talk to says the exact same thing: AI is commoditizing software and flooding every category with new products, features, and new products. It’s incredibly crowded and noisy. That’s why B2B buyers turn to channels like LinkedIn, creator Substack, or YouTube podcasts to find new products and tools,” she said.
Huang said the company’s revenue increased 13 times last year and added customers such as Eleven Labs, Figma, Replit, Framer and Gamma.
Since its last funding in 2024, the company has released an AI agent called Zest that helps brands create, run, and monitor performance of campaigns. Passionfruit claims that Zest can also help businesses find the right creators on and off the platform to fit their marketing strategy.
The company says it uses its proprietary Creator Graph, which is based on reach and performance data from thousands of campaigns. There are also wallets that businesses can use to pay creators around the world and measure spending.
Passionfroot claims to have paid out at least $10 million to creators on its platform over the past 18 months.
The company says it is committed to helping clients measure how their campaigns are impacting AI citations and how their brands are appearing in AI-powered answers. The startup also plans to build AI capabilities for creators, such as helping with monetization tips and content ideas.
This funding comes to help creator platforms like Substack and Beehiiv help creators find better monetization opportunities. Beehiiv launched a new community and advertising marketplace last week, and Substack introduced subscriber-only perks within its newsletter.
Passionfroot’s Series A also saw participation from existing investors Creandum, Supernode Global, and s16vc. The company has raised more than $21 million to date.
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