1stCollab

1stCollab is an AI-powered influencer marketing platform designed to connect brands with creators, automating the process of discovering, managing, and optimizing campaigns for better ROI. Founded in 2022 by Leon Lin, Varun Bansal, and Andrew Liu, it's backed by Y Combinator (YC W23) and focuses on streamlining what is often a manual and time-consuming task in digital marketing. The platform allows brands to source thousands of creators instantly, automate outreach, payments, and taxes, while providing performance optimization through machine learning based on prior campaign data.

Key Features

For Brands: Set up and scale campaigns in under 30 minutes, with tools for testing and optimizing influencer partnerships. It integrates with social media to track ROI and automate workflows like contract approvals and payments.

For Creators: Free access to discover brand deals, automatic media kit updates, fast payments, and reduced administrative hassle. Creators can apply to relevant campaigns and get matched based on fit.

For Managers: Tools to help talent secure more deals and manage collaborations efficiently.

The company has raised funding from investors including Brighter Capital, F7 Ventures, and Goodwater Capital, and it's positioned as a solution to make influencer marketing as efficient as platforms like Facebook or Google Ads. It powers some of the largest influencer campaigns on social media and emphasizes performance over traditional manual processes.

Recent Updates

On November 3, 2025, 1stCollab officially launched on Product Hunt, ranking in the top 3 trending products that day with strong community support. Founders highlighted the three years of development to create a fully automated system, and it's already receiving positive feedback for simplifying collaborations. You can check it out at their website: https://www.1stcollab.com/ or follow @1stcollab on X for updates.

If this relates to marketing strategies like omnichannel approaches, 1stCollab could integrate well by automating influencer outreach across platforms for seamless customer engagement. Let me know if you need more details on setup, pricing, or similar tools!