Inspired Capital's $450M Fund IV builds on track record of 10 unicorns. Jeanne Gray The New York venture capital firm expands its early-stage investment strategy and launches a revenue platform to help founders accelerate the scaling of their businesses. Inspired Capital has closed its $450 million Fund IV, bringing total committed capital to more than $1.3 billion, positioning it as a leading early-stage venture capital investor. "Seven years in, we've seen what's possible when bold ideas meet relentless execution," von Tobel added, emphasizing the firm's growing commitment to helping companies grow revenue faster. Founded in 2019 by Alexa von Tobel and Penny Pritzker, Inspired Capital backs ambitious entrepreneurs building technology-driven solutions to major challenges across artificial intelligence, healthcare, defense, fintech, robotics, and consumer markets. The new fund will continue targeting Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A investments. It is also now introducing a dedicated revenue platform designed to help portfolio companies accelerate commercial growth. Track record demonstrates exceptional growth. In just seven years, Inspired Capital has established an impressive record of identifying and supporting high-growth startups. The 10 portfolio companies have achieved unicorn status, reaching valuations of at least $1 billion. Additionally, 10 companies have surpassed $100 million in annual revenue, with four generating more than $400 million annually. Inspired Capital has also recorded more than 10 exits, including Teamshares' Nasdaq listing, MosaicML's acquisition by Databricks, and Deeptune's acquisition by Mercor. For the new fund, the firm seeks to find promising founders early and supports businesses through major expansion stages. Transformative technologies. Inspired Capital's investment strategy focuses on emerging industries and backing entrepreneurs before their markets gain widespread recognition. Notable portfolio investments include: Allen Control Systems, an autonomous defense technology company, reached a $2.2 billion valuation after Inspired led its seed financing. ShopMy, a curated commerce infrastructure platform, reached a $1.5 billion valuation after Inspired led its Series A investment. Suno, an AI-powered music creation platform backed by Inspired in 2023, has grown to a reported $5.4 billion valuation. Other notable investments include Stand, an insurance technology company valued at $1 billion, and Dandy, an AI-powered dental laboratory business that surpassed $100 million in revenue within its first two years. Inspired has also backed emerging technologies through investments in quantum computing company Logiqal, business banking platform Rho, intelligent operations company BrightAI, and healthcare advocacy platform Solace. New revenue platform focuses on helping founders scale. Inspired Capital is expanding its support for entrepreneurs with a newly launched, revenue-focused platform. The initiative reflects an increasingly important challenge for early-stage startups: translating innovation and investment capital into sustainable revenue growth. The platform's specific services are not yet detailed. However, its introduction signals a focus on helping portfolio businesses accelerate commercial development and outperform as they scale. "Inspired was built on the belief that the world's most ambitious founders will fundamentally change how we live and work for the better," said Alexa von Tobel, Founder and Managing Partner of Inspired Capital. Founder partnerships remain central to Inspired Capital's strategy. Inspired Capital attributes much of its success to close relationships with entrepreneurs throughout the startup journey. Jeremy Gurewitz, CEO and Co-Founder of Solace, whose healthcare advocacy platform achieved a $1 billion valuation, praised the firm's commitment to supporting founders through challenging moments. With Fund IV, Inspired Capital is positioning itself to identify another generation of high-potential startups while strengthening the resources available to founders building enduring businesses. For entrepreneurs seeking early-stage venture capital, the firm's expanding combination of investment capital, industry experience, and revenue-growth support represents an opportunity to build and scale transformative companies. Jeanne Gray. October 21, 2026

The automation land grab: what Amazon, Meta, and FTC ad moves mean for your bottom line. Every platform wants you to believe their new algorithm will manage your campaigns better than a human can. Over the past week, another wave of automation tools rolled out across Amazon, Meta, and TikTok. The vendor pitch is always the same: spend less time inside ad managers, set a top-line budget, and let machine learning allocate your dollars. Convenience, however, should never come at the cost of accountability. When algorithms optimize in a black box, it is remarkably easy to burn budget on vanity metrics while customer acquisition costs quietly climb. Here is what actually happened this week, the skepticism you need to apply, and how to put these shifts to work practically. 1. Amazon Connects Streaming TV Directly to Sales Amazon launched an open beta for Full-Funnel Campaigns, allowing U.S. sellers to bundle sponsored ads, display, online video, and streaming TV under a unified AI-allocated budget. Alongside this, they announced DVA+, bringing streaming TV, video, display, and audio into a simplified interface with frequency capping and format-level controls. - The Promise: Small and mid-sized businesses can test Connected TV (CTV) without complex manual buying or separate agency desks. - The Reality Check: Amazon's reporting highlights an "Estimated Long-Term Sales" metric, which blends immediate revenue with projected 12-month value. Always measure actual customer acquisition cost (CAC) and realized sales separately from vendor-projected lifetime value. Furthermore, before running local campaigns on DVA+, scrutinize geographic targeting precision and fee structures. Media doesn't automatically become cheaper just because it's automated. 2. Operational AI: Meta Muse and TikTok Spark Workflows Ad operations are gradually moving out of manual dashboards: - Meta expands Muse into business operations: It connects business accounts across Facebook and Instagram to everyday platforms like Shopify, QuickBooks, and Klaviyo. Crucially, publishing and budget changes still require human sign-off. - TikTok streamlines creator activation: Through a new API integration with ShopMy, brands can find existing affiliate creator content and turn it directly into Spark Ads without raw production cycles. The Takeaway: The highest immediate return on AI isn't generative copy; it's cutting down administrative drag. If you already have existing creator coverage, turning approved videos into paid ads reduces production overhead significantly. For Meta's workflow tools, run a tight 30-day pilot on draft preparation and reporting to measure actual minutes saved before expanding access. 3. Regulatory Watch: The FTC Looks at Impersonation Ads On October 1, the Federal Trade Commission published an advance rulemaking inquiry investigating how ad platforms' generative tools and targeting mechanisms might facilitate impersonation scams. Why it matters: While no new rules took effect immediately, the direction is clear: platforms will face mounting pressure to verify advertisers and review automated creative claims. Retain strict internal approval loops for all AI-generated copy and visuals now, so regulatory shifts down the line don't disrupt your active campaigns. The Monday Morning Playbook If you are managing your own media or directing agency partners this month, here are four concrete priorities to focus on: 1. Evaluate DVA+ for CTV suitability: Confirm geographic precision and account eligibility before committing holiday ad spend. 2. Separate realized revenue from projected metrics: Never let an algorithm optimize exclusively toward "estimated future value." Keep your eyes on hard cash conversions. 3. Pilot one operational workflow: Pick one repetitive reporting or draft task in Meta Muse or your analytics suite and measure whether it genuinely saves your team time. 4. Lock down creative approvals: Maintain documented client sign-offs on all campaign claims, especially as platform oversight tightens.

ShopMy launches Spotlights, turning creators' best-performing content directly into paid media. Sep 30, 2026, 06:00 ET With Spotlights, brands seamlessly launch Meta Partnership Ads and TikTok Spark Ads from content that is already driving affiliate sales, all from within the ShopMy platform. NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - ShopMy, the curator commerce platform for the world's most premium brands, creators, and shoppers, today announced Spotlights, a product that turns proven creator content into paid ads across Meta and TikTok. Spotlights leverages the creator relationships, content, and data brands already have inside ShopMy for an always-on paid program that gets smarter every time it runs. The product joins Affiliate, Opportunities, and Lookbooks as the final and critical step in ShopMy's full-funnel creator marketing system. The Problems Spotlights Solves: While organic creator marketing is incredibly efficient at driving new site visits, much of that traffic leaves without converting. Meanwhile, paid ads are great at retargeting and converting returning shoppers, but struggle to scale without creative feeling repetitive. Spotlights bridges this divide, pairing the trust and creative diversity of creator content with the precision of paid performance. Meta's own data shows that creator-led ads drive 13% higher CTR and 19% lower CPA than standard ads, and brands using TikTok Spark Ads have seen up to 25% higher CTR and 24% higher conversion rates compared to standard in-feed ads. Despite this impact, most brands can only run a handful of creator ads due to manual sourcing, upfront fees, and approval processes that cap volume before scale is possible. Spotlights flips the traditional model, leveraging proven content to create a scalable, pay-for-performance ad program that is built to convert. How Spotlights Works * Proven Content: Organic content is surfaced based on real performance affiliate data, so brands can invest in proven-to-convert content. Standard creator commission replaces a flat production fee, removing risk for brands. * Easy Approvals. Creators can turn on Instant Spotlights to pre-approve requests from brands they mention, or manually approve them from inside the ShopMy platform, turning organic content into high-performing ads within minutes. * Optimized Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). Faster approvals and no upfront fees mean more content in-market, which in turn gives brands the ability to test quickly and continuously. * Precise Control. Brands can build Spotlight strategies by product, market, or funnel stage, each with its own targeting, budget and outcome to optimize toward. * On a Centralized Platform. Spotlights runs on the creator relationships, content, data, and sales history already inside a brand's ShopMy account, eliminating the need for separate platforms. "Spotlights transforms creator marketing from a brand awareness channel to a conversion channel," says Harry Rein, co-founder and CEO of ShopMy. "Brands can put a massive library of creator content to work as paid ads, reaching high-intent shoppers without the extra legwork. For the first time, brands can run their entire marketing program through ShopMy in a cohesive, consistent, brand-accretive way." ShopMy's Spotlights ad partners were quick to recognize the product's value. "'TikTok made me buy it' became a trend because so many people discover, decide, and buy through TikTok. Our partnership with ShopMy connects that moment to the scale and measurement rigor of paid media. With the Content Suite API, ShopMy can connect its affiliate content on TikTok directly to Spark Ads, so brands can amplify authenticity with proven results to reach even more people." - Jeffrey Huai, Global Product Lead for Creator Ads at TikTok Early Results MUTHA, a luxury skincare brand, increased its live partnership ads to over 100 in a single month, grew GMV by 140% over its pre-Spotlights monthly average, and saw a 55% lift over its standard Meta ROAS. Additionally, the number of creators earning through MUTHA grew roughly 62% over the same period. "In an age where AI-generated content is growing exponentially, real creators bring authenticity and credibility. ShopMy allows us to use that trust to grow our brand, and we will continue to shift more paid media spend to Spotlights to take advantage of that." said Mick Burchfield, VP Sales & Marketing, MUTHA. A few months after turning on Instant Spotlights, New York City-based fashion and lifestyle creator Marissa Huertas-Crespo now earns more than 60% of her lifetime ShopMy commissions through Spotlights. "Spotlights has been a game changer for me," she says. "Content I shared months ago has been given a second, third, or sometimes even fourth life by turning on Instant Spotlights, in addition to helping me reach new audiences as well. I love how hands-off and effortless it is, especially as a creator balancing content and a full-time career." About ShopMy: ShopMy is the creator commerce infrastructure that connects premium brands, curators, and consumers through taste and trust. Brands including Rhode, Kallmeyer, Net-a-Porter, Gucci, West Elm, and Therabody use ShopMy's affiliate tracking, gifting, and performance tools to work with a network of 330,000+ curated tastemakers. Spotlights is available now to ShopMy brand partners. SOURCE Shop My Shelf, INC.