Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has become the co-owner of a US-based creator platform after making an undisclosed ‘significant investment’.
Stan is an all-in-one creator store designed to help creators easily monetise their audience and The Diary of a CEO podcast host has described his investment as ‘the biggest deal of my life’.
The 32-year-old revealed his partner Melanie Vaz Lopes’ experiences persuaded him to get involved.
He said: “Six months ago, I came home to find my partner Melanie stressed and frustrated, trying to build a complicated WordPress site for her breathwork business.
“That same day, I got an email from John Hu at Stan. He said he’d built a platform to help creator entrepreneurs launch their own store in minutes – no code, no fuss – for just £20/month.
“The dots connected in my head. I told Melanie to check out Stan Store. She did. She loved it. Within minutes, her store was live – saving her a lot of money, a ton of stress, and weeks of wasted time.”
Bartlett flew to Los Angeles to meet Stan’s co-founders John Hu and Vitalii Dodonov and signed a major, ‘double digit equity investment deal’, making him a co-owner of the company.
John Hu, CEO of Stan, and Steven Bartlett
“Since announcing the deal we’ve spent late nights and long weekends hacking away to build some pretty incredible AI tools for creators,” he said.
“It’s currently generating $30m+ in annual revenue and It’s generated more than a quarter of a billion in revenue for the entrepreneurs that use the platform.”
The investment will be used to further enhance Stan’s user experience.
Hu built Stan to solve a problem he encountered while trying to create content on TikTok and YouTube under the alias @jayhoovy.
He said: “Stan was built on the belief that anyone should have the opportunity to make a living working for themselves.
“Steven and I connected over our shared backgrounds and values. We’re committed to paying that success forward by creating real opportunities for others, especially those who, like us, began their creator journey without industry connections.
“That’s why we’ve brought Steven on as an investor and co-owner – because the people who understand this business best are the ones actually living it.”
Following its launch in 2021, the platform has grown to 70,000 users and generated more than $250m in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) on the platform.
Bartlett added: “We’re in the middle of a shift toward creator-led entrepreneurship – a shift that AI will only accelerate.
“I believe Stan is the easiest and most affordable way to begin that journey. By becoming a co-owner of Stan, my goal is to help more Stan creator-entrepreneurs succeed.”
Stan is available to download on the Apple App Store.