Timothy Armoo and Ambrose Cooke, both 21 established Fanbytes a year ago and cash in on the success of YouTube stars
Two internet-savvy friends who decided to put their university studies to one side and set up their own business are celebrating after their company raked in a six-figure turnover last year.
The friends, who predict who the next Zoella or Jim Chapman will be by how big their following is, started the firm a year ago and have seen its success sky-rocket – with predictions to earn seven figures in the next year.
Speaking to FEMAIL about his brainchild, Timothy, who is a student at Warwick University but spends most of time in London working on his start-up, said: ‘We can predict who will be the next breakout stars on YouTube based on some super geeky algorithm that we’ve created and brands as such New Look, Sephora, and Adidas are all hopping on board.’
After coining the idea, Timothy called on Ambrose, right, to be his business partner and they brought Mitchell Fasanya, left, on as their Chief Technical Officer
After coining the idea, Timothy called on Ambrose to be his business partner and says he will never forget how he and his now best friend first met.
He recalls: ‘We were at a leadership event, and I remember one of the speakers mentioned the importance of networking with the phrase “look to your left, look to your right, your future business partner might be next to you”.
‘Ambrose looked at me to his left. We bonded over sports, books and then I started building Fanbytes asked him to join.’
Timothy, who sold a media company at 18 which netted him some notoriety and some cash, invested £3,000 of his own money into the start-up, which he says was inspired by his younger cousin.
He said: ‘I remember my little cousin buying a bunch of new stuff, random new hats and trainers and I asked him why he got them. He mentioned that he was influenced by KSI who is a YouTuber now.
‘When you see your own family members having their purchasing habits being changed by this random guy in his bedroom somewhere you’re instantly alerted to the power of YouTubers. Similarly, we saw that these guys were micro celebrities in their own right and needed a way to monetise their audience.
‘YouTube is quite unfair to creators, taking 45 per cent of fees from adverts so we knew that they’d need a better way.
‘There are a few players in the space but everyone keeps using random slow management companies and we just decided to build a website which makes it as easy as buying an ad on Google or Facebook. And brands such Disney, Nickelodeon, Sephora have all signed up.’
So how does the concept work? Clients tell Fanbytes about their brand and they then help build a successful campaign.
Whether it’s downloads, traffic or general social buzz, the team of creatives promise to utilise their clever algorithm to help clients find the perfect influencers to collaborate with based on gender, age and audience location and track the clicks, views and engagement.
Image copyrightPA
