Influencer Marketing Startup Levanta Raises $22 Million

Levanta, a social commerce startup, taps into influencers' ability to drive purchases to boost revenue for sellers on Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, and other marketplaces. This week the company closed a $22 million Series B round led by Volition Capital with participation from Long Run Capital, bringing total funding raised to $43 million. In an interview with Business Insider, Levanta CEO and co-founder Ian Brodie said the company is now investing seriously beyond Amazon — deepening its partnerships with Walmart and Shopify and expanding into international markets.

Levanta's core business model connects retail sellers with a network of more than 90,000 vetted content creators: creators receive product samples, produce review videos, and earn a commission on sales. The company encourages sellers to set commission rates between 15% and 20%, and also handles operational tasks like performance tracking, creator payouts, and automating tax paperwork. Revenue comes from a fixed technology fee charged to sellers plus a cut of sales generated through the platform.

According to eMarketer, affiliate marketing — the commission-on-sale advertising model — will drive more than $240 billion in US e-commerce sales this year, up roughly 12% from a year earlier. Competition in the space is heating up: companies like LTK, Impact.com, and TikTok Shop all offer influencers and publishers various ways to earn commissions, and in October, rival ShopMy was reported to have raised $70 million at a $1.5 billion valuation.

Levanta's key differentiator in the market, Brodie says, is technology that simplifies managing affiliates and creators across multiple platforms, paired with a clear focus on retail sellers who have growing marketing budgets but limited experience working with influencers. "Our biggest advantage is our ability to educate and inform sellers on retail platforms about the value of affiliate and creator marketing, get them engaged, unlock budget, and then bring them into partnerships with creators," Brodie says.

The company employs more than 100 people and has posted a profit or near break-even result every year since its founding. As part of the new funding round, current employees were also given the chance to cash out a portion of their shares. Volition Capital managing partner Larry Cheng, citing his firm's experience investing in other influencer-driven ventures — including brands like Chamberlain Coffee and Doing Things — describes creators as "the primary driver of sales."