Devotion, a newly launched influencer marketing platform co-founded by Parade founder Cami Tellez and former TikTok executive Jon Kroopf, has raised $4 million in funding to expand its AI-driven creator economy software.
The round was led by Basecase and Will Ventures and will be used to grow the company’s engineering and brand operations teams while further developing its AI technology for large-scale creator program management.
What The Company Does
Devotion is building a platform designed to help brands manage influencer programs at scale by automating creator discovery, campaign coordination, and content workflow management. The software uses AI to analyse creator content, evaluate brand alignment, and recommend which posts to amplify, while maintaining human oversight for final decision-making.
The platform also supports operational functions such as influencer payments, guideline compliance checks, and brand fit scoring, enabling marketing teams to coordinate large creator networks more efficiently. Rather than relying on small pools of macro-influencers, Devotion focuses on enabling brands to engage with hundreds or thousands of creators simultaneously.
According to the company, the system is structured to accelerate workflows rather than operate autonomously, with human review embedded into AI-driven processes to ensure brand control and consistency.
Advertisement
Market Context / Industry Background
The creator economy has evolved rapidly as algorithm-driven platforms reshape how content is distributed and discovered. Traditional influencer marketing strategies, which often focused on a limited number of high-profile creators, are becoming less effective in algorithmic feeds that prioritise content performance over follower size or social graph reach.
Industry data suggests that creators still represent a relatively small share of total advertising spend despite growing brand interest, largely due to operational challenges associated with managing large and dynamic creator ecosystems. As content algorithms increasingly reward scale and engagement rather than audience size, brands are beginning to adopt network-style creator strategies that require new software infrastructure.
This shift is also lowering barriers to influence, enabling smaller or niche creators to achieve significant reach based on content relevance and algorithmic distribution rather than established follower bases.
Founder / Investor Commentary
Cami Tellez, who previously founded the consumer brand Parade, described Devotion as a response to structural changes in the creator economy, noting that earlier models centred on a small group of visible influencers are no longer aligned with how algorithmic platforms distribute content. She emphasized that brands must now operate more like content networks to achieve scale and maintain algorithmic visibility.
Jon Kroopf added that the platform is designed to make creator program management faster and more scalable, while ensuring that AI recommendations remain subject to human review rather than fully autonomous execution. He also noted that the software addresses a gap that previously made it impractical for brands to build large-scale influencer infrastructure internally.
Tellez further highlighted that algorithm-driven feeds have significantly reduced organic reach from individual posts compared to earlier social media eras, reinforcing the need for diversified creator engagement strategies.
Growth Plans / Use Of Funds
The newly raised capital will be used to expand Devotion’s technical infrastructure, hire additional engineers and brand operators, and further develop its AI agent capabilities. The company also plans to refine tools for creator analysis, campaign optimisation, and large-scale community management as it scales its client base.
Devotion spent much of the past year in beta and has already secured more than ten clients while reaching seven-figure revenue, according to the founders. The platform is focused on helping brands build bespoke creator engagement strategies and foster long-term creator communities rather than one-off campaign relationships.
Looking ahead, the company intends to deepen its AI systems to support the management of thousands of creators simultaneously while maintaining brand consistency and content quality across campaigns.
About Devotion
Devotion is a creator marketing technology platform co-founded by Cami Tellez and Jon Kroopf. The company develops AI-powered software that enables brands to discover, manage, and scale influencer programs through automated workflows, content analysis, and creator network coordination tailored to algorithm-driven content ecosystems.
