Noise raises $5.5M to turn ordinary smartphone users into brand influencers
Noise is a marketing platform that lets brands run campaigns with thousands of everyday content creators, paying them per view rather than a flat fee. The startup announced a $5.5 million seed round led by Capital Midwest, M25, and Girshin Robotics, bringing its total funding to $7.2 million. Founded by former Playbite creators, Noise claims its top creators earn over six figures annually and currently has 1.5 million creators on the platform.
The founders developed the concept while scaling their mobile game Playbite, recruiting their own players to post promotional content on TikTok. Starting with five people and growing to 100, they watched installs surge while spending far less than traditional influencer campaigns. This experiment convinced them everyday users could outperform expensive established creators.
Noise charges brands a fee on top of what creators earn per view, and its new Organic-to-Ads program lets brands repurpose creator videos as paid ads on Meta and TikTok. The company currently serves mostly mobile app clients with startup budgets, though it aims to expand to larger enterprises. The broader influencer economy shows strong interest, with 57% of young people wanting to participate.
Noise's model could reshape how brands approach marketing by democratizing content creation, potentially shifting ad spend away from celebrity influencers toward ordinary users. This may create new income streams for everyday people, but could also flood social platforms with sponsored content, blurring the line between authentic posts and paid promotion. Creators may face pressure to accept low per-view rates, and audiences might grow skeptical of seemingly organic recommendations.