Fanbase Revenue, Valuation & Funding (2024)

Fanbase's all-time cumulative revenue through late 2021 stood at approximately $60,000, derived from the company's 20 percent take of gross merchandise volume that flowed through the platform. Hayes III confirmed that total creator earnings on the platform reached approximately $300,000 all time, and that Fanbase's share of that figure, after Apple and Google had already collected their 30 percent store fees, amounted to roughly $60,000.

Fanbase had accumulated approximately 200,000 total downloads since its 2018 launch, with roughly 20,000 new users joining in the 30 days preceding the December 2021 interview, an uptick Hayes III attributed to rapper Lotto joining the platform and offering five fans a chance to attend her Atlanta birthday party through the app.

Monthly active users stood at approximately 50,000, with daily active users in the range of 5,000 to 8,000. Hayes III stated that approximately 80 percent of users who have ever been active on the platform have earned at least some money. The minimum payout threshold is $50, and creators are paid once per month after submitting payment information. The virtual currency is called Love; one Love micro-transaction is worth 0.5 cents, and users can send as many Love transactions as they wish on any post, audio room, video, or live stream.

Pricing was not broken out by subscription tier in the interview. The average order value across all in-app purchases was $2.83.

Fanbase generates revenue by retaining 20 percent of all in-app purchase volume after Apple and Google collect their 30 percent platform fee, passing the remaining 50 percent to creators. For every dollar a user spends inside the app, Apple or Google takes 30 cents, Fanbase takes 20 cents, and the creator receives 50 cents.

The virtual currency Love is the primary transaction mechanism. Users purchase Love in the in-app store and distribute it across posts, audio rooms, videos, and live streams at 0.5 cents per unit. Creators must accumulate at least $50 before they can request a payout, and payouts are processed once per month. Hayes III noted that a meaningful portion of earned creator balances remain unclaimed because users have not yet entered payment information or crossed the $50 threshold, meaning a portion of earned revenue stays within the platform.

The customer acquisition cost was $0.25 as of 2021, and the average order value was $2.83. Hayes III said the company's primary growth tactic at the time was influencer marketing, exemplified by the Lotto activation that drove 20,000 new downloads in 30 days. Profitability was not discussed in the interview. Gross margin, burn rate, runway, LTV, churn, and net revenue retention were not discussed.

Fanbase employed approximately 20 people full time as of December 2021, including a senior executive team focused on onboarding, marketing, and vertical-specific functions such as sports and music. Approximately 10 of the 20 team members were engineers, all working under the CTO Ramiro Canavas and his Atlanta-based development shop, which has served as Fanbase's core technical team since the MVP build.