👊🏽 Special Edition: Ganas Ventures Invests in UnVale
This is a special edition of Lolita's Newsletter, a monthly newsletter of curated actionable insights and resources for over 20,000 underestimated founders, funders, and friends.
Ganas Ventures is excited to announce our investment in UnVale’s pre-seed round alongside co-leads Graham & Walker and Antler, and participants GFR Fund, Unpopular Ventures, LongJump Ventures, and more. This marks our 20th investment since launching, adding to our growing portfolio that includes Latitud, Around, Shappi, Leadsales, Masa, Storybook, Ask Alex, Distribute, Papaya, Chptr, The Swarm, Careerflow, Avify, Vitrinnea, Manzana Verde, Zócalo, Nufi, ToolHouse, and Liquidonate. We're thrilled to support UnVale's vision for democratizing media creation and remain committed to investing in passionate founders who are building the future of Latin America and the US.
💰 Founders, apply for investment here. 👊🏽 LPs, apply to invest in Ganas here.
TL;DR on Why We Invested in UnVale
Massive market: Targeting the $2.3 trillion media industry with a unique platform for creators.
Strong growth: Achieved 650% growth YTD with 120k users and 76k monthly active users.
Disruptive model: Enabling self-publishing and commercialization for creators, bypassing traditional studios.
Engaged community: Over 2 million social interactions, growing 500k per month, showing high engagement and potential for viral growth.
Proven leadership: Led by experienced founders with a track record in startups, media, and community building.
🚨 Job Alert: UnVale is hiring! They’re filling a VP of Engineering role and are searching for former founders and folks from marginalized communities. Check out the job posting on Wellfound for more info.
🎨 UnVale
UnVale is redefining media creation by serving as a "Disney Studios" for creators. Their platform allows writers, illustrators, and animators to develop, self-publish, and commercialize their work. Since launching in April, UnVale has hit 120,000 users, 76,000 monthly active users, and over 700,000 original creations, generating 2 million social interactions. UnVale's mission is to democratize the creation of media franchises and become the largest engine for new IP in the $2.3 trillion media industry.
Team: The UnVale team is led by CEO Casey Lawlor and COO Bri Clark. Casey is a 3x founder and angel investor with a decade of startup experience, while Bri has a strong background in product development and operations at Twitch and Amazon Games. Their combined expertise in technology and community-building makes them the perfect duo to lead UnVale. With a team that includes engineers from Blizzard and product experts from D&D Beyond, UnVale is well-equipped to scale and innovate.
Market Opportunity: UnVale is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of the media and creator economy, which has a TAM of $650 billion. By focusing on young, aspiring creators and offering a platform for authentic, user-generated content, UnVale taps into a massive audience eager for new and diverse media experiences. Their approach bypasses traditional gatekeepers and empowers creators to bring their stories to life.
Traction & Growth: UnVale has demonstrated impressive growth, achieving 650% user growth YTD and generating significant social interaction. With a proven model of user-generated content and a younger audience, UnVale is poised for continued success. Their social platform for long-form content allows creators to build audiences and monetize their work, similar to how YouTube revolutionized video content.
Community: UnVale leverages the power of community by offering a platform where creators can connect with audiences from day one. This approach ensures high engagement and loyalty, with 88% of users expressing love for the platform. By focusing on authenticity over production value, UnVale fosters a dynamic ecosystem where creators can thrive and audiences can discover fresh content.
Unicorn potential: UnVale's vision includes expanding its user base to millions and turning successful creators into media stars. With a clear strategy for scaling and monetizing content, UnVale is on track to become a unicorn. Their innovative platform is set to revolutionize how media franchises are built, offering investors a chance to be part of a transformative venture in the creator economy.
🙌🏽 Join the UnVale Family
We're thrilled to support UnVale's vision for empowering creators and remain committed to investing in passionate founders who are building the future of Latin America and the US.
Become part of the UnVale family as a creator here or as a Ganas Ventures LP at ganas.vc.
✨ Lolita Taub, GP at Ganas Ventures | X | luma
Ganas Ventures is actively investing $100K into pre-seed and seed community-driven startups in the US & Latin America. Learn more at ganas.vc.
Disclaimer: Ganas Ventures is a 506c fund that allows us to publicly solicit for our raise. All are welcome to apply to become an LP; however, commitments to Ganas Ventures will only be accepted by accredited investors.