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Social media startup Escapex sets sights on influencer marketing space with an app to rival instagram

Social media startup Escapex sets sights on influencer marketing space with an app to rival instagram

How do you compete with one of the largest social media platforms on the planet? Escapex is on the case.

The Singapore-based start-up has already raised $15m in a round of series B funding, supported by a number of Australian investors. 

While the company hasn't released who is backing the venture, Escapex reportedly told the Australian Financial Review that it has "locked in Australia and Asia-based investors to lead the fresh round, which it has not yet closed."

Escapex claims to be 150 times more effective than Instagram when it comes to engagement rates. The company investor deck boasts a rate of 1.5 per cent, which is significantly larger than Insta's 0.01 per cent.

A fresh alternative

Escapex wants to provide a new alternative to the established social media platforms, those being Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. 

The company launched in 2015, and has amassed a rich roster of influencers, including Brazilian artist Luan Santana, Japanese footballer Keisuke Honda and actor Jeremy Renner, known for his performance as Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

"The end game is to decentralise social media. We want to standardise the model," Escapex founder Sephi Shapira said.

"We enable anyone who has a loyal fan base, and their audiences to form a direct connection via customised, self-branded mobile apps and we partner and contract with every single celebrity before we develop their app to ensure they are properly engaged."

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Editor

Danielle Partis is editor of PocketGamer.biz and former editor of InfluencerUpdate.biz. She was named Journalist of the Year at the MCV Women in Games Awards 2019, as well as in the MCV 30 under 30 2020. Prior to Steel Media, she wrote about music and games at Team Rock.