Led · Series B · Jun 2026

Founded in 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Vurvey Labs has developed an agentic AI suite that conducts interviews with real consumers to generate panels on trends. These consumer panels are sold to large brands to support their business decision-making. The company’s technology automates interviewer-like interactions to gather insights from real people. The article notes Vurvey as a provider of trend panels to major brands but does not disclose revenue, user counts, or other operating metrics. The recent investment from Havas was announced at Cannes Lions and signals industry interest in scaling the company’s commercial reach.

Led · Equity · Nov 2017

Octoly operates a marketplace that lets primarily female social media influencers browse products they are willing to create content for and connect with beauty, fashion, and lifestyle brands. The platform counts brands such as Dior and Sephora among its customers and says it handles over 200,000 product reviews annually. Octoly has launched OctoPrime.co to let influencers build their own online stores, indicating a move into direct-commerce tools for creators. The company is French and maintains offices in New York; it is active in the US, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Octoly's CEO positions the company as the largest marketplace for influencers, seeing the platform as an operating system for micro-influencers. The business recently completed a notable funding round, which should support expansion and product development. Octoly operates a marketplace that matches beauty brands with long‑tail YouTubers, enabling creators to request free product samples in exchange for reviews. Brands pay to access the platform, and Octoly stores and ships samples directly to creators to ensure timely delivery. The company monitors roughly 800,000 channels worldwide and about a million videos daily to identify promising creators and track partners. It estimates around 400 active beauty YouTubers in France, of which about 200 work with Octoly. Octoly emphasizes that it provides free products rather than paid endorsements and acknowledges deontological limits and occasional lack of disclosure by young creators. The startup recently raised $1.2 million from investors including Otium Capital, HiMedia Group and several business angels. Octoly plans to expand beyond beauty into other verticals such as video games and other social networks, and is ready to launch in the U.S. next week with 30 beauty brands on board, where it will compete with StyleHaul.