Investment Thesis

Internet penetration in India has increased from 18% in 2017 to 49% in 2023. India is now the 2nd largest online market in the world, only behind China but despite the large number and a consistent increase in accessibility, internet penetration in the country is way below the worldwide average of ~64%. India clearly has tremendous potential to grow and the major benefactor of this would be the creator economy.

The pandemic has accelerated growth of the creator economy in India, which has been expanding at a CAGR of 25%. However, while the majority of the income from the creator economy goes to the best creators, who are catapulted into stardom, the majority find it challenging to sustain their creative endeavours. There are around 80 million creators in India, of which only about 150 thousand can monetise their content/services effectively—i.e. less than 0.2 %.

The emergence of low-cost smartphones, internet access and digital media has made becoming a creator incredibly accessible leading to the rise in “amateur creators”, who do not have enough views or followers to easily monetize their base on social media platforms but have a small loyal base of customers who are willing to pay for exclusive content. This amplifies the importance of finding a solution to empower the next-gen amateur creators to ensure that they are able to sustainably monetise their fan base and earn money.

Key Problems

Extremely uneven income distribution in the creator economy
No stable flow of income as most creators are mainly dependent on volatile sources like advertisements and affiliations for income which is hard to come by for amateur creators
Lack of an efficient way for creators to develop alternate revenue sources and to tap into their fans willingness to pay (WTP)

Solution

Plutus provides a single platform for live rooms, group chats, integrated payments and analytics. It aims to develop creator-fan communities which will provide creators with alternate sources of income in return for providing various services like classes, video calls, workshops, etc. This makes Plutus a positive-sum platform:

Creators get to leverage fans WTP, earn extra money and get an all-in-one platform to provide services
Fans get to experience a more personalized and community-based experience with their favourite creators

Business Model

There are no monthly fees, but a commission fee per transaction model, and a pay-as-you-go-structure, where creators are able to earn more than just subscriptions from their user base, which shows in increased repurchase rates and earnings of the creators. Plutus is able to get its creators to more effectively monetize their base and customize offerings as per different cohorts of customers.

Verdict

There is a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the development of the "amateur creator class," which promotes the concept that anyone can choose to become a creator and earn a respectable living, subsequently, encouraging the growth of a more sustainable creator economy in the years to come.

Plutus is providing a platform to help creators easily monetize their communities and tap into their fans WTP. Their early traction and 10 week retention rates of over 85% show that they are seeing an early PMF and are on the right path to scale and capture this market.