In the dynamic landscape of the creator economy, Fanztar, a Gurugram-based startup founded by Himanshu Garg and Sahil Singla in September 2022, is making waves by providing creators with a unique opportunity to monetize their content. Recognizing the challenges faced by creators in monetizing their work, Fanztar operates as a creator-first marketplace, fostering revenue-sharing collaborations with fans and facilitating data-driven brand matchmaking.
According to a 2023 report by Singapore-based creator tech company Animeta, the creator-driven branded content market in India involves over 3,500 brands and 5,000 creator partners. The report projects that one million Indian social media creators will earn over $500 monthly within three years. Despite the booming $100 billion creator economy, only 0.2% of the 80 million creators in India successfully monetize their content.
Himanshu Garg, CEO and Founder of Fanztar, emphasizes the need for creators to have a fair share of the value they generate. While platforms like Instagram and Facebook have democratized content creation, Fanztar aims to ensure that the benefits are equally distributed among creators. Garg notes that algorithm changes on popular platforms often pose challenges for micro-creators to sustain their communities and attract brand engagement.
Fanztar addresses this issue by introducing a novel concept—the fan card. Creators can sign up on the Fanztar platform, create a profile, and launch a collection of fan cards for sale to their followers. These digital cards, represented as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the blockchain, are linked to the creator's intellectual property (IP) rights over the content they will produce in the next 18 months. Buyers of these cards gain access to a share of the creator's future earnings, ensuring sustained engagement and audience growth even amidst algorithm changes.
Currently, Fanztar takes a 20-25% commission on fan card sales, distinguishing itself by tying IP rights to NFTs—a global first. Additionally, the platform charges brands a commission between 15-18% for its services. In March 2023, Fanztar expanded its business by assisting brands in connecting with creators, leveraging its close relationship with the creator community to identify influencers that can drive purchasing decisions.
Since its inception, Fanztar has onboarded over 1,000 creators, selling approximately 44,000 fan cards within a year. The platform categorizes creators into two segments—micro (10k-100k followers) and emerging (100k-500k followers), focusing primarily on English and Hindi-speaking creators. Fanztar's strategic goal is to onboard 25,000 creators by the end of the year.
Fanztar's success is underlined by its unique approach to creator monetization, emphasizing long-term community engagement and intelligent decision-making for brands. The startup, initially backed by a Rs 5 crore seed funding round led by India Quotient in 2022, continues to shape the landscape of the creator economy, placing the creator at the forefront of its mission.
