Noise raises $5.5M to connect brands with everyday creators
Original: Noise wants to help everyday people become paid content creators
Why This Matters
The influencer market is expanding fast, with 57% of young people wanting to participate — and per-view pay models could reshape how small brands scale content.
Marketing startup Noise announced a $5.5 million seed round led by Capital Midwest, M25, and Grishin Robotics on September 16, 2026, bringing total funding to $7.2 million. The platform pays creators per view rather than flat fees, and now hosts 1.5 million creators across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Noise is a marketing platform that lets anyone — regardless of follower count — download its app and join brand campaigns. Brands submit content briefs and budgets; creators pick campaigns and post on their platforms of choice. Payment is per view, not a flat rate, which keeps costs lower than traditional influencer deals. Brands can run simultaneous campaigns across thousands of creators without managing individual relationships or payments.
The $5.5M seed was led by Capital Midwest, M25, and Grishin Robotics, with participation from Capitalize VC and operators from DoorDash. Total raised now stands at $7.2M.
CEO Diego Kafie and co-founders Stu Feldt and Nic Weber launched Noise in 2025 after running a mobile game app called Playbite. They essentially built Noise by accident — recruiting gamers to post TikTok content about Playbite, watching installs spike, then realizing the model itself was the product. The platform now claims 1.5 million creators, with top earners pulling six figures annually. Kafie said the company takes a fee from brand payments once views are delivered. Current customers skew toward mobile apps and startups; the long-term target is brands of all sizes.