Pietra turns creator product ideas into real lines

The Future. A startup called Pietra wants to help influencers and digital creators build merchandising business — by handling all of the things for which people get a business degree. If it takes off, the company could lower the friction for influencers to merchandise their images, opening a new revenue stream that could be more lucrative than what made them famous to begin with.

Web warehouse
Product lines are the new frontier of being an influencer… and a new startup called Pietra wants to help make them happen.

• Created by a former team from Uber, Pietra was formerly a marketplace for jewelry sellers, but has pivoted to build “a backend for launching and scaling creator product lines.”
• Pietra takes the logistics responsibility off of creators by “interfacing with suppliers, handling orders, and fulfillment and setting up online storefronts.”
• Currently, the company focuses mostly on swimwear, makeup, apparel, fragrances and jewelry.
• Pietra recently raised a $15 million Series A that was led by Founders Fund.

CEO Ronak Trivedi said that the company’s goal is to “find the best suppliers in the world and try and bring them on the platform at the lowest minimum orders, so that it allows the most people to try to start a business.”

From creator to celebrity
The idea of digital creators and influencers moving into the world of merchandising has quickly gained steam over the past couple of years… especially as celebrities have adopted the practice to major paydays.

• Kanye West and Yeezy.
• Kim Kardashian and SKIMS.
• Jessica Alba and Honest Co.
• Dwayne Johnson and Teremana.

Each of these companies have netted their celebrity creators millions of dollars, and influencers rightly see that they can leverage their followings to do the same… just on a smaller scale. Look no further than Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast), whose MrBeast Burger became an internet sensation just last year.