Manchester creative marketplace, Twine, has received £400k from Greater Manchester Combine Authority and angel investors, Herb Kim, Chris Mairs and Stephen Pankhurst.
The platform, set up by 2 Manchester University graduates, connects companies to a network of 195k freelance designers, animators, musicians and filmmakers.
The new funding means that they’ve raised more than £900k of investment since 2015.
“We are very excited to continue our growth with this investment round. The northern startup community is booming and we are proud to be a part of it,” said Stuart Logan, Twine’s CEO.
“The potential market for Twine is huge. There are 52 million small and medium sized companies in Europe and the US. They spend £24k per year on marketing, 32% of which is spent on content marketing. This means around £400 billion is spent on content marketing per year. We want to help companies create the content they need.”
The application allows companies to write a project brief and then curate the best quality creative freelancers for a project. The intention being to save time and money.
“It would have been foolish of the GMCA not to take the opportunity to invest in Twine. As a creative network for almost 200,000 professionals it is a key organisation that will help us to meet our ambitions to grow the digital economy in the region and provide the high-skilled, highly-paid jobs that we need to ensure that Greater Manchester prospers,” explained GMCA lead member for investment and finance, Councillor Kieran Quinn.
Meanwhile Herb Kim, the founder of tech conference Thinking Digital Conference and executive chairman of Tech North, said of his investment:
“My decision to invest in Twine was driven by my belief in Stuart Logan’s integrity and ability, and do I think Twine are fulfilling a real need with a compelling solution? My answer is a resounding yes.”
