South African startup The Social Vibe (TSV), a marketing platform for showcasing innovation through banner advertising, has launched a membership programme that allows entrepreneurs to get up to 10 businesses showcased on the site.
The startup has launched three membership packages as part of its mission, which it says is to give entrepreneurs and innovators the chance to be part of a wider community and have their businesses amplified.
Three membership programmes have been launched, including the Linking Innovation Membership, aimed at entrepreneurs seeking funding. The Innovator Membership allows innovators to get up to five brands showcased, while the Serial Entrepreneur Membership allows entrepreneurs to showcase up to 10 businesses on the platform.
Disrupt Africa reported in April on the launch of the The Social Vibe by Grant Vanderwagen and Elizabeth Crockett. The platform showcases businesses, startups, brands and services through banner sliders on its homepage, while also pushing brands through its marketing strategy and online network.
In June, the startup unveiled the second part of its monetisation strategy by saying it wants to establish itself as a “middleman” connecting startups with investors, a goal which is further boosted by the rollout of the membership schemes.
Vanderwagen told Disrupt Africa the programme offered entrepreneurs a number of options to choose from, and would help them in amplifying their businesses.
“Entrepreneurs that apply for the membership programme will get great exposure for their companies by having banner advertisements on one or more of the five banner advertising featuring on The Social Vibe,” he said.
“Each company will get its company profile on our platform. More benefits include social amplification through our networks, boosted email marketing through our community of entrepreneurs and investors, feature reviews, support, and page updates. We are South Africa’s most innovative amplification agency, the linking pin between good ideas and success.”
Vanderwagen said in June the platform already had brands paying to showcase, and was reaching viewers in 64 countries, with 5,500 page views per month.
“What we’re trying to focus on now is creating a private investor list, to make us the link between innovation and funding. We want to have investors on our site so that when a brand showcases that needs funding, we can approach the investors that we have,” he said.
A few investors from South Africa and overseas are already on the list, with Vanderwagen and Crockett working hard on building it up.
“We want to assist brands that are looking for funding. We want to help them find the right investor. We want to be the middleman between the entrepreneur and the investor,” Vanderwagen said.
“It is pretty cool for us and it is also pretty intense.”
