Aug 17, 2021

Founders Fund and Sweet Capital backs Contact to expand into more creative industries Since starting in 2019, Contact has upended the fashion industry by directly connecting models with bookers and agents. This means clients can book models directly on the platform – a process that is historically labour-intensive. With Contact, models don’t have to worry about payment terms, contracts, or other details. Similarly, bookers can access a huge range of diverse talent in seconds, without needing to call multiple agents. Now, Contact has its sights set on the rest of Europe’s £500 billion creative industry. In August 2021, it’ll launch photographers on the platform, with a range of other industries set to follow over the next 12 months – including stylists, makeup artists and videographers. The expansion is all part of Contact’s revamped mission to be the destination for creatives to manage their career and get paid. With Contact handling all the admin and technical pieces, the company empowers creatives to focus on the important thing – their craft. Clients like Balenciaga, Burberry, Depop, Farfetch, i-D, Nike, Vivienne Westwood and Vogue already trust Contact to find the world’s most diverse creative talent. Its market penetration is set to increase even further as it offers yet more services to top industry names. Contact CEO Reuben Selby says: “I’m delighted to have the support of Founders Fund and Sweet Capital as we continue our mission to help more creatives get paid. We’re just getting started.” Contact’s 2021 seed funding round is led by Founders Fund (Airbnb, Facebook, Stripe) and Sweet Capital, with additional funding from angel investors like Simon Beckerman (founder, Depop) and Eric Wahlforss (founder, SoundCloud). Contact’s using the cash injection to add staff across engineering, marketing and operations as it gears up to launch new product verticals. Trae Stephens, Partner at Founders Fund, says: “We are always excited when we find founders who seem to have been born to build a specific company,” said Founders Fund Partner, Trae Stephens, “Reuben definitely seems like one of those founders. We are really excited to watch the company scale and expand into new creative verticals.” Pippa Lamb, Partner at Sweet Capital, adds: “The team at Contact have been pushing frontiers in the creator economy long before “the creator economy” became a buzzword. Contact possesses a rare combination of world class technical talent with the raw innovation of today’s most creative minds. We are excited for this next chapter.” Investor list