Noise wants to help everyday people become paid content creators

Noise operates a marketplace that invites anyone with a smartphone to join as a content creator, regardless of follower count. Creators complete training modules, can access campaigns on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and are paid based on views they generate rather than a flat fee. The platform charges a fee to brands from what those brands pay creators once views are delivered.

The startup says its roster includes roughly 1.5 million creators and that its highest-earning creators make more than six figures annually. Brands submit creative briefs and budgets to Noise, which automates recruitment, campaign management and payments, allowing companies to run campaigns across thousands of creators simultaneously.

Noise was founded by Diego Kafie, Stu Feldt and Nic Weber after two years building a mobile game app called Playbite. The founders say their experience teaching players to promote their app informed Noise’s approach: recruiting and training everyday users to produce content proved more cost-effective than hiring established influencers.

On Wednesday Noise announced a $5.5 million seed round led by Capital Midwest, M25 and Grishin Robotics, bringing total funding to $7.2 million; other investors include Capitalize VC and operators from companies such as DoorDash. The new capital will be used to expand product capabilities and hire additional staff. Noise also launched an Organic-to-Ads program that lets brands run creators’ videos as paid ads on Meta and TikTok in addition to the creators’ organic posts.

Noise positions itself for brands with startup budgets and mobile-app customers that want wide reach and content diversity at lower cost. The company cites broader interest in influencer participation — with 57% of young people and just over 40% of U.S. adults saying they want to take part — and competes in the same creator-infrastructure space as companies like Billo and JoinBrands.