After Sec Investigation, Curastory Founder Resigns, Hires Replacement

The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused content monetization startup Curastory of overstating gross to investors and misrepresenting existent customer numbers, according to paperwork seen by TechCrunch.  

As a consequence of a settlement with nan SEC, Curastory’s founder and CEO, Tiffany Kelly, has resigned from the role and replaced herself with Dave Dickman, erstwhile CEO of nan influencer trading level Tagger. 

Under Dickman’s leadership, nan institution has begun fundraising, world description plans and merchandise updates, Kelly and Dickman show TechCrunch. 

The colony agreement specifically barred Kelly for 10 years from serving connected nan committee of board aliases arsenic an executive astatine immoderate institution that would, essentially, fundraise. TechCrunch saw a type of this statement that had not yet been finalized. It stated that Kelly agreed to these stipulations without admitting to aliases denying nan allegations.  

Although Kelly remains a awesome shareholder and will stay an advisor, she told TechCrunch that stepping speech was genuinely nan only determination that I could make conscionable to support nan institution live and thriving,” she said. 

Kelly founded nan company in 2021. Curastory is a platform that helps content creators monetize their videos and has grown to astir 400,000 creators utilizing it, she said. It lets advertisers buy in-video ads from creators, while tracking metrics and supporting different features, for illustration video editing.  

It has raised around $3 cardinal to date from investors including LightSpeed’s Scout Fund, Feld Ventures, and Mindspring Capital, according to Pitchbook, which besides listed it arsenic having participated in a fewer accelerator programs for illustration Techstars and nan SPARK Program, held by AMEX Ventures and Project W, according to Pitchbook. 

“It’s been a chaotic ride,” she admitted. As portion of nan settlement, Kelly also agreed to pay a fine. 
Kelly told TechCrunch that she did not cognize what triggered the SEC investigation. She said she received a lawsuit successful June and successful January was issued nan violations notice from nan SEC.  

She hopes for clip and grace. “It’s absorbing having and being forced to measurement down,” she said. She still has majority ownership successful nan company, but said she’s happy that fundraising and finances are disconnected her plate.  

She said she’s also happy she was capable to pick her successor, finding Dickman done an executive recruiter. Many other ousted founders are not capable to do so. She asked the recruiter to find personification who was a bully person, who wouldn’t strip and sell the company for speedy cash, and who would understand nan technology.  

“Early-stage companies person each kinds of challenges crossed nan board. In nan end, it happened. It’s been resolved,” Dickman told TechCrunch. He compared him and Kelly to yin and yang, arsenic he spent decades successful nan creator abstraction and has worked astatine a few early-stage startups. She is analytical, he said, and very product-focused, while he likes having more of a leadership role.  

“I consciousness like we’re a bully combo and complementary to thrust this forward,” he said.  

Kelly, meanwhile, is already seeing immoderate changes, arsenic Dickman has been CEO for a fewer weeks already. She said his fundraising platform made it to nan table of a VC fund, and they forwarded it to personification else, nudging them to return a look astatine nan product.  

“I person not had that acquisition pinch fundraising, arsenic you could astir apt imagine,” she said, referring to nan experience that women, particularly Black women, often face erstwhile raising task money. “So that has been eye-opening.”  

Under Dickman, she hopes for a agleam early for nan company. Curastory already has plans to grow into Canada, Australia and nan UK soon.  
 
The institution is moving connected caller features to target creators on other platforms like Spotify video, and to add AI to nan product to make their advertizing exertion a spot much agentic, she said. It’s current video enablement devices see YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook Watch. 

It besides plans to adhd a much enhanced attribution exemplary for advertisers that would eliminate the request for influencer promo codes.  

“Those are the immediate, near-term product, sales, globalization things,” Kelly said.  

Despite this shocking extremity to her tally arsenic nan CEO of her company, she told TechCrunch, “being a laminitis and CEO is 1 of nan astir humbling and rewarding experiences I deliberation anyone tin have.” She hopes to share her lessons learned and experiences pinch others, “especially women and group of color.”