Lightricks, a growing platform for content creators and developers of the world’s leading photo and video editing tools such as Videoleap, Facetune2, Facetune Video, and Photoleap, announced today the acquisition of Popular Pays, the industry-leading Chicago-based software company that connects brands with creators to enable an agile approach to advertising for brands, and powerful monetization opportunities for creators.
This announcement is a first step in Lightricks’ strategy to become a single resource for creators and brands alike, bringing together advanced tools and monetization opportunities for creators and providing brands access to the largest community of content creators across the globe, large and small. The combination of Lightricks’ creator suite and Popular Pays’ robust tools for connecting, collaborating, and tracking partnerships between brands and creators will set the standard for the next generation of the creator economy.
Popular Pays enables a more agile approach to advertising. Brands and agencies use their network of creators to produce content for any channel, leverage their software to streamline and scale their work and tap their customer service professionals to guide their brand’s strategy. Popular Pays allows brands to be faster, more flexible, and efficiently deliver on their campaign goals by activating influencers for brand awareness, leveraging creator content to populate owned or paid channels, or using creators to test and learn on new platforms.
“This is an exciting moment for us, and an important step toward building a streamlined, one-stop platform that supports creators in all stages of their journey to create and monetize their content,” says Zeev Farbman, Co-Founder, and CEO of Lightricks. “This acquisition is an important step for us, and will help change the game for creators. They will reach new levels of success and connect easily with brands through the combination of Popular Pays’ exceptional platform and team with the strength of Lightricks’ creative tools and understanding of the creator community.”
Fresh from a $130 million Series D round, a new partnership with the D’Amelio family, and the launch of LinkInBio, Lightricks is the leading platform to enable creators of all skill levels to bring their creative vision to audiences of all sizes. Lightricks is helping creators monetize their content while creatively engaging with fans. With the Popular Pays acquisition, Lightricks brings tens of millions of creators a direct connection from within its portfolio of apps to world-class brands. Similarly, Lightricks will offer brands access to a wide pool of creators who can provide top-tier, user-friendly content that corresponds with a brand’s values.
Popular Pays, whose leadership’s strong background in marketing, is a natural fit within Lightricks. Popular Pays truly understands how brands need to adapt their strategies and processes to remain competitive in today’s advertising landscape. Their solutions empower brands and will complement Lightricks’ industry-leading suite of tools available to creators. Popular Pays saw significant success and growth in 2021, expanding to more than 130 active clients representing approximately 340 brands.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining forces with Lightricks,” says Corbett Drummey, Co-Founder, and CEO at Popular Pays. “Our vision is to lead an agile transformation in advertising, and we believe that creators will power that evolution. Together, we will have the largest opt-in creator community of any competitive offering. Our products, teams, and strengths are extremely complementary, and the resources and scale that Lightricks brings to the table will enable new and bold strategies that I believe will change our industry. We are excited to get to work on them together.”