Hummingbirds, a platform founded by women that connects local content creators with regional brands, has secured 5.4millioninseedfunding,bringingitstotalraisedto10 million. The platform aims to expand into 20 more cities by 2025, including Atlanta, Charlotte, and Denver.
Launched in 2022, Hummingbirds focuses on localized marketing, helping small businesses compete with larger brands by leveraging the influence of local creators. Brands can launch targeted campaigns, encouraging creators to share products on social media. Over 300 brands, ranging from well-known names to smaller local chains, have partnered with Hummingbirds.
To incentivize participation, businesses offer rewards such as gift cards and free merchandise. Creators earn these rewards for promoting products to their highly engaged, local followers. While creators pay no commission, brands must pay a fee to launch campaigns.
Hummingbirds targets “nano creators” with up to 10,000 followers, who often have higher engagement rates due to their loyal followings. The platform claims that its city-specific content strategy can boost sales by up to 14 times and social engagement by 80%.
Hummingbirds distinguishes itself from competitors like Franki, Mavely, and Mavn by focusing on Middle America. The platform currently operates in over 20 cities, including Des Moines, Madison, Nashville, and Omaha. This strategic focus helps brands reach a region often overlooked by traditional marketing efforts.
Co-founder Emily Steele, inspired by her experience as a small content creator in Iowa, envisioned Hummingbirds as a way to support local brands. The company name comes from a nickname her father-in-law gave her, reflecting the hummingbird’s role as a local pollinator.
Hummingbirds has experienced rapid growth, quadrupling its revenue and doubling its community size to 11,000 creators in the past year. Investors in the recent round include Allos Ventures, Ground Game, Homegrown Capital, and others.