We’re proud to celebrate an extraordinary milestone achieved by one of our StarterStudio alumni, Kristen Wiley, Founder and CEO of Statusphere.
Statusphere has officially closed an $18 million Series A funding round, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s growth and reinforcing its mission to make authentic, human-generated content the foundation of modern brand growth. This latest round brings Statusphere’s total funding to $27 million and positions the company for its next phase of innovation and scale.
💡 Redefining Influencer Marketing at Scale
Founded by Kristen Wiley after firsthand experience navigating the limitations of traditional influencer platforms, Statusphere was built to solve a critical challenge: how enterprise brands can activate creators to scale without sacrificing authenticity, brand safety, or trust.
Today, Statusphere is an AI-powered marketing platform that enables enterprise retailers and consumer brands to turn micro-influencers into a scalable, trusted growth channel. With less than an hour of setup, brands can activate thousands of creators while automating complex workflows such as:
🔍 Creator sourcing and vetting
📦 Product fulfillment
🛡️ Compliance and brand safety
📊 Performance reporting and rights management
Leading brands including Express, Parlux, Kendo Brands, and LG H&H rely on Statusphere to power their creator programs across social, retail, paid media, and e-commerce channels.
🔍 Fueling the Future of Social SEO & AI-Driven Discovery
The Series A round was led by Volition Capital, with participation from HeartsLab, 1984 Ventures, and How Women Invest. The new funding will be used to expand Statusphere’s capabilities in social SEO, generative engine optimization (GEO), and reporting, helping brands improve product discovery across AI-powered and agentic search experiences.
In the past year alone, Statusphere has:
⭐ Powered 50,000+ creator collaborations
🎥 Generated 500M+ engagements and video views
🛍️ Delivered measurable results across social, in-store retail, and e-commerce
🗣️ Founder Perspective: Built for This Moment
“Human -generated content is quickly becoming the most valuable driver of brand discovery, but influencer-marketing solutions weren’t built to scale for the enterprise,” Kristen shared. “After years of testing different platforms, I built Statusphere to solve that challenge by giving brands a smarter, more automated way to activate creators at scale without sacrificing authenticity.”
Her vision-and the platform she’s built-reflects a deep understanding of both technology and human connection, a combination that continues to set Statusphere apart in the market.
🎓 A Proud Alumni Moment
Kristen’s journey as a founder exemplifies innovation, resilience, and leadership. This Series A milestone is not only a major achievement for Statusphere, but also a proud moment for our alumni community. We’re excited to watch what’s next as Kristen and her team continue shaping the future of influencer marketing and brand discovery.
🎉 Congratulations to Kristen Wiley and the entire Statusphere team!