This startup is drawing out online creativity to turn your passions into a living

The global COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the growth of the digital economy and remote work.

Lockdowns have disrupted the ability for creators and instructors to deliver their services.

The projected volume generated by the global gig economy from customers in 2023 is set to be $455 billion. Based on the first half of 2020, it’s probable that acceleration in the space will outsize previous revenue estimates of $404 billion by 2027.

Feather, a startup built with Antler in Sydney, empowers creators and instructors to seamlessly deliver online experiences.

“There has been a lot of digital innovation over the last two years, particularly in the time of COVID-19,” says Feather co-founder and CEO, Shori Hijikata.

“This has created an online creator economy where instructors want to distribute line on-demand video content. This can be a cumbersome process with lots of administration and inefficiency. Feather makes this process seamless, simple and fast. Everything runs smoothly in the background.”

Unlike a marketplace, the Feather platform provides the tools for people to build their brand online and foster a direct channel with their audience. In minutes, creators and instructors can set up their profile to launch live events removing the need for multiple products.

“There are many people living out their passion who want to host classes online,” says Hijikata.

“They need to build their brand in the community. Feather is an online platform to build, manage and monetise. You can share your landing page with your audience only, create a live audience and upload content through the internet on platforms such as Zoom.”

Feather enables creators to share their passions and expertise. With it, they can host classes online, delivering digital content. The tool enables creators to set a price, automatically track attendance, and create an in-built email list.

“Feather provides a page, audience and payment for your passion- making it profitable,” says Hijikata.

Prior to founding the business, Hijikata led an edutech startup, Crimson Education, as the Country Manager, from which she brings a passion for building innovative products and fostering community.

Her co-founder and COO, Scott Ellice-Flint, has worked on several startups across China, India and France and has experience building and scaling Shopify ecommerce brands with one exit under his belt.

And rounding out the founding team is technology leader Celilsemi Sam Erkiner who is an award-winning software engineer specialising in cross-platform solutions.

“We have a very compatible skill set,” said Hijikata. 

“We have experience building online courses, leading communications to reach a bigger audience and helping people grow and be empowered.”

Feather is building fast. 

Currently, the Future of Work business is working with a small group of beta testers to build the product, and have a dozen leads waiting to use the platform.

“We have a small group of beta users who have given us feedback so that we can launch version two in a couple of weeks,” said Hijikata. 

“They are small group users and we will ride this momentum to network through viral, word of mouth, referral means and get bigger and better. We are nurturing users that are not ready yet to keep them warm and have them on stand by for the launch.

“We have vision, are innovative and have the spirit to look beyond the initial solution.

“We are building the creative stack and adding other aspects; communicating with our audience and marketing our skills in a fast growing market. We are developing with feedback.” 

• Feather was built with and invested in by Antler, the world’s largest early-stage investment platform. If you want to build your next company with Antler, applications for the next cohort can be made here. Or come along to their upcoming Demo Day on November 19 to see this team and other startups pitch their businesses to investors across the world. Register for the virtual event here. 

StartupDaily is the official media partner of Antler Australia’s Demo Day.