Cult Creative, a Malaysian creator economy company, has secured a RM500,000 seed funding from The Hive Southeast Asia, a January 4 press release announced.
Connecting brands with creators, Cult Creative uses technology to aid brands in discovering fitting creators, streamlining workflows, and facilitating creator payments.
Shermaine Wong, Cult Creative’s co-founder and CEO, told Vulcan Post that the funding will be a catalyst for the development of the startup’s new proprietary creator collaboration platform.
Specifically, they’ve allocated resources to focus on technology enhancement, user experience optimisation, and scalability. They’ll also be investing in community-building initiatives to empower creators and brands.
“The decision to pursue funding for Cult Creative wasn’t one we took lightly,” Shermaine added. “After overcoming various challenges and showing significant traction in the market, we recognised the immense potential of our new model.”
Significant wins include landing brand deals with notable companies including Farm Fresh, Bata Malaysia, and Pavilion Group.
“It was clear that additional capital would fast-track our creator collaboration platform’s development and equip us with the resources to make a bigger splash in the creator economy,” the CEO explained.
According to the press release, this investment follows a period of not just strategic evolution, but also overcoming the challenges of the untimely passing of Cult Creative’s co-founder Manisha Jagan Mongan in March 2023.
Fresh funds for fresh ideas
In November 2023, it was announced that Cult Creative would be shutting down its job portal app.
This was because of the company’s pivot from just a job portal to becoming a more holistic platform that bridges brands and creators. The former app had been quite limited in terms of its technology, so a new platform needed to be built.
As mentioned, the fresh funds from The Hive Southeast Asia will be used to build this new platform.
“We’re making great strides in developing the platform and are on track to unveil the beta version to the public within the next six months,” Shermaine assured.
On top of building a new platform, the press release also revealed a new project by the name of CultPay.
CultPay will be an alternate credit scoring system designed to empower creators to gain financial freedom.
Shermaine explained, “Our long-term vision is to provide gig workers with a reliable credit scoring mechanism and get recognised by traditional financial institutions so they can easily get housing, car loans, and credit cards, and even expand their creative businesses.”
CultPay is still in its nascent stages, so specifics of it are kept under wraps. That said, Shermaine expressed that the team is looking for financial partners to build a system that considers a creator’s performance, reliability, and contribution to the Cult Creative creator community.
The team is aiming to roll out the feature within the next 12 months.
Two years in the plans
While reading success stories of startups securing investments, it may be easy to forget that behind every fundraising is years and years of work.
Shermaine shared that it took them two years to secure a “yes”, and that each conversation she had played a role as a stepping stone in the company’s journey.
“We’ve been monitoring Cult Creative for the past two years, and during this time, the team has consistently demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability,” said Dato Syed Haizam Jamalullail, the managing partner at The Hive Southeast Asia.
The Hive Southeast Asia is a VC fund backed by Palo Alto-based venture capital firm The Hive, Tuas Capital Partners, and Sunway.
Aside from Cult Creative’s resilience, the managing partner also pointed out that the company’s impact extends beyond business metrics, as it contributes to social impact and job creation.
This happens to be in line with the objective of the mandate that The Hive Southeast Asia has been given under Penjana Kapital’s Dana Penjana Nasional Program.
“I advise entrepreneurs to be unequivocal about their company’s mission, values, and growth strategy,” Shermaine shared. “Seek investors who offer more than just capital—those who bring strategic value through mentorship and network connections.”
Featured Image Credit: (From left) Watson Tan (The Hive), Lina Esa (Cult Creative), Shermaine Wong (Cult Creative), Zhong Han (The Hive)
