Linktree becomes a unicorn from a side hustle started in Oz 5 years ago

Linktree - the 5 year old social media platform founded by brothers Alex and Anthony Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys, has raised US$110m and become a unicorn at a $US1.3 billion valuation .

The funding round was led by Index Ventures and Coatue Management, supported by  AirTree Ventures, Insight Partners and US-based global investment firm Greenoaks.

Greenoaks  have also backed Deliveroo, Stripe, Airwallex and Discord.

What Linktree does 

The problem that Linktree solves is for brands to monetise their presence on social media.

Linktree allows influencers,  celebrities, sports stars and brands to create a single page to consolidate their presence across various online services, with the ability to accept payments.

Brands on the platform include TikTok, Red Bull and HBO and celebrities such Selena Gomez and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson , and has emerged as a brand that creators and their audiences trust.”

What they will be doing with the money raised 

Linktree  are looking to hire another 200 to 300 people over the next year across the US and Australia - to consolidate and grow its market share. 

It faces many up and coming competitors seeking to claim the “link in bio” market, or promote other waysfor influencers and brands to convert popular online profiles into commercial transactions.

“Linktree has brand scale with over 24 million users and over 1.2 billion visits a month with msignificant users on the platform, as well as great partnerships with the platforms.” Says Alex Zaccaria 

AirTree Ventures partner Jackie Vullinghs believes Linktree is well established and far enough ahead of the curve to beat any “copycats”, and that there was significant opportunity for further commercialisation of the platform.

Other siblings creating amazing businesses  

Sam and Ryan Kroonenburg took six years to build A Cloud Guru before it was acquired for $2 billion last year; 

James and Robbie Ferguson are co-founders at $3.5 billion-valued crypto platform Immutable 

Gabby and Hezi Leibovich are leading figures in the local e-commerce market after founding and selling Catch Group to Wesfarmers.

And let’s not forget 

Simon and Nicky Zimmerman - creating the iconic Zimmerman brand 

Alex Zaccaria chats  to Paul Smith of the AFR about the deal and the advantages of having a sibling partner 

“If we don’t agree we tell each other how it is, and it is like that ultimate psychological safety that you strive for in a workplace.

“If we disagree we can be best friends again a minute later, because we have spent our whole lives doing that.”