Following the SEC investigation, Curastory’s founder resigned, hiring a replacement

The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused content monetization startup Curastory of overstating revenue to investors and misrepresenting true customer numbers, according to papers seen by TechCrunch.

As a result of the settlement with the SEC, Tiffany Kelly, founder and CEO of Curastory, resigned from her position and replaced herself with Dave Dickman, former CEO of influencer marketing platform Tagger.

Under Diekman’s leadership, the company embarked on fundraising, international expansion plans, and product updates, Kelly and Diekman told TechCrunch.

The settlement agreement specifically barred Kelly for 10 years from serving on the board of directors or as an executive director at any company that primarily raises money. TechCrunch saw a version of this agreement that has not yet been finalized. It stated that Kelly agreed to these terms without admitting or denying the allegations.

Although Kelly remains a major shareholder and will remain an advisor, she told TechCrunch that “stepping down was really the only decision I could make just to keep the company alive and thriving.”

Kelly founded the company in 2021. therapeutic It is a platform that helps content creators monetize their videos, and has grown to about 400,000 creators using it, she said. It lets advertisers buy in-video ads from content creators, while tracking metrics and supporting other features, like video editing.

It has raised about $3 million so far from investors, including Lightspeed’s Scout Fund, Feld Ventures and Mindspring Capital, according to PitchBook, which also lists it as having participated in a few accelerator programs such as Techstars and the SPARK program, held by AMEX Ventures and Project W, according to PitchBook.

“It’s been a wild ride,” she admitted. As part of the settlement, Kelly also agreed to pay the fine.
She told TechCrunch that she doesn’t know what led to the SEC’s investigation. She said she received a subpoena in June, and in January, a notice of violations was issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is a hope for time and grace. “It’s interesting that she was forced to step down,” she said. She still has majority ownership of the company but said she’s glad fundraising and finance are outside her scope.

She said she was also glad she was able to choose her successor, finding Diekman through an executive recruiter. Many other ousted founders are unable to do so. I asked the recruiter to find someone good, who wouldn’t strip the company naked and sell it for quick money, and who understood technology.

“Early-stage companies face all kinds of challenges across the board. In the end, it happened. It was solved,” Diekman told TechCrunch. He and Kelly compare it to a yin and a yang, having spent decades in the creative industry and working at a few early-stage startups. He said she is analytical and very product-focused, while he would love to have more of a leadership role.

“I feel like we’re a good, complementary group to move this forward,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kelly is already seeing some changes, as Diekmann has been serving as CEO for a few weeks already. His fundraising group arrived at a venture capital fund’s office, they sent it to someone else, and had him take a look at the product, she said.

“I didn’t have that much fundraising experience, as you can probably imagine,” she said, referring to the experience women, especially Black women, often face when raising project money. “So that was amazing.”

Under Diekmann’s leadership, she hopes for a bright future for the company. Curstory already has plans to expand into Canada, Australia and the UK soon.

She said the company is working on new features to target content creators on other platforms like Spotify Video and adding artificial intelligence to the product to make their advertising technology a little more effective. Its current video enablers include YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook Watch.

It also plans to add a more enhanced attribution model for advertisers that will eliminate the need for influencer promo codes.

“These are the immediate, near-term products, sales and globalization,” Kelly said.

Despite this shocking end to her career as CEO of her company, she told TechCrunch, “Being a founder and CEO is one of the most humbling and rewarding experiences I believe anyone can have.” She hopes to share her lessons and experiences with others, “especially women and people of color.”