Astute, a platform that helps B2B companies manage partnerships with newsletter, podcast and social media creators, has raised an oversubscribed $1.2 million pre-seed round as it launches its new platform. The round was backed by Flyer One Ventures, Silicon Gardens, Marathon Fund and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, alongside strategic angel investors.
Founded by Vida Stanić and Abhishek Manikandan, Astute is developing infrastructure for B2B marketing as audiences increasingly shift from traditional channels such as advertising, PR and search towards newsletters, podcasts and social platforms. The company aims to make it easier for businesses to identify relevant creators and manage partnerships across a fragmented media landscape comprising millions of independent channels.
Astute's platform uses two AI agents to automate both sides of the partnership process. One acts as a talent manager for creators, handling administrative tasks associated with brand partnerships. The second serves as a new media manager for B2B companies, helping them identify creators, develop partnership strategies and manage campaigns.
The company says its technology monitors more than one million creator posts per minute to identify where businesses and their competitors are being discussed. It uses this data to recommend potential creator partnerships and manage opportunities including editorial placements, interviews, podcast appearances, advertising and event collaborations.
The platform also measures campaign performance across metrics including impressions, conversions, brand visibility and visibility in AI-powered search engines, giving companies a way to track the impact of their creator partnerships.
For years, B2B marketing relied on ads, PR and SEO. But audiences have moved to new media channels — newsletters, podcasts, LinkedIn, X. In direct-to-consumer space, that shift turned influencer marketing into one of the biggest line items in the budget. B2B is next,
said Vida Stanić, founder and CEO of Astute.
Stanić said one of the main challenges for B2B companies is identifying and reaching relevant creators, a process she experienced first-hand while working in growth roles. Astute is designed to automate much of this work, from discovering creators and establishing contact to managing partnerships and measuring their results.
The company is positioning its platform around the growing importance of distribution as AI lowers barriers to developing new products and increases competition across technology markets. Astute also expects creator-generated content to become increasingly relevant to AI-powered discovery and recommendation systems, as AI agents play a greater role in how products and companies are found.
In the longer term, Astute plans to expand beyond facilitating individual creator partnerships to help B2B companies build their brands, establish credibility and develop their own audiences.
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