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Photo courtesy of HeyPal
Meet HeyPal, the Language App Using Social Media Influencers To Spread the Word
Christian Hetrick
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Katy Johnson, a reality TV star and globe-trotting travel blogger, has lately offered some advice to her more than 100,000 Instagram followers.
“I urge you to learn a new language,” the model has told her fans, noting how locals in the foreign countries she has visited appreciate the effort. “It’s essential to be able to connect with people as much as possible while I travel,” she wrote in another post last month. Johnson, a former contestant on the TV show “Joe Millionaire,” has repeatedly suggested one particular way to study a new language: HeyPal, a one-year-old language-learning app.
A photo from Johnson's Instagram account, which she's used to promote HeyPal.
Photo courtesy of HeyPal
“Today I wanted to work on some Arabic slang, so I literally can pull out the phone and use the app anywhere, anytime!” read a caption to one photo of Johnson sitting near the Indian Ocean with a smartphone in her hands and a cocktail nearby.
At first glance, her casual endorsements may look like mere tips from a travel expert. But the Instagram posts, sprinkled between photos of the model posing in exotic tropical locations, are part of a paid campaign by HeyPal, which is owned by Beverly Hills-based digital app developer ClickStream.
HeyPal—which promises to help users learn new languages through social media posts and online chats with native speakers—has made content creators like Johnson a key part of its marketing and growth strategy. The app is currently paying three influencers, including Johnson, to spread the gospel by showcasing glamorous real-life examples of how people can benefit from the platform.
HeyPal, which has racked up more than 1 million downloads since going live last June, is hardly the only brand turning to influencers. Spending on influencer marketing has exploded in recent years, jumping from only $1.7 billion in 2016 to $16.4 billion this year, according to research from Influencer Marketing Hub.
In some ways, influencer marketing is not much different from traditional celebrity endorsements where actors, artists and athletes hawk products in advertisements. But online influencers often forge deep relationships with their fans, making their endorsements more effective, according to experts. That’s especially true if the products or services they’re marketing naturally fit with the content they’re creating—such as Johnson highlighting a language-learning app as a travel blogger.
“At the end of the day, influencer marketing works because the audience trusts the creator,” Brad Hoos, CEO of influencer marketing agency The Outloud Group, told dot.LA. Hoos noted that customers acquired through influencers tend to stick with brands longer than those lured by other campaigns.
Launched in 2020, HeyPal aims to help people learn new languages by conversing with native speakers through social media features like chats, posts, comments and media uploads. HeyPal offers both free and paid versions of the app; the latter is available in two subscription tiers ($9.99 or $14.99 per month) and includes additional features like unlimited translations on posts and a “PenPal” feature that matches users who can teach each other new languages.
HeyPal CEO Jonathan Maxim, a marketing veteran who ClickStream hired for the role last year, told dot.LA that Johnson and the app’s other influencers bring credibility to the platform. Those other influencers include Jessica Killings, an actress, model and angel investor who, like Johnson, has a large Instagram following.
HeyPal CEO Jonathan Maxim. Photo courtesy of HeyPal
HeyPal has worked with roughly 20 influencers to date, though it has only struck paid partnership deals with three, according to Maxim. (“The other 20 or so are just enthusiasts of the mission,” he noted.) The company declined to share how much it pays influencers to market its app.
In addition to boosting the brand’s visibility, HeyPal’s influencers are able to steer people to the app or channels like its Instagram account, through which the company can later retarget them with ads or push notifications, Maxim said. HeyPal can measure reach, click-through rates and number of app downloads by influencer, and can optimize its ads accordingly.
“Influencer marketing serves the top of the funnel for us,” Maxim said. “Katy creates engaging content, brings people to the middle of the funnel, and then we retarget them and bring them to the bottom of the funnel—which is conversion and engagement in the app.”
Johnson’s Instagram endorsements don’t dig into the details of the app, but they subtly suggest the perks of learning a new language. An Instagram Reels video she made in March shows Johnson dancing and posing for selfies with people around the world—activities presumably made possible by her ability to speak different languages.
“These types of posts help people dream—to see a country and the beauty, the food, the people,” said Jamie Gutfreund, chief marketing officer for Los Angeles-based Whalar, a creator economy company that works with influencers and brands. “They can imagine what their experience could be, especially if they have learned the language.”
Creators have to tread carefully when it comes to corporate partnerships, however. Although brand deals may provide more stable income than platform ad revenue, creators have to ensure they don’t harm their authenticity by constantly promoting products, experts said. About 13% of fans say they have unfollowed a creator because they included too many ads in their content, according to a recent survey.
Johnson is keenly aware of that balancing act: She said she sends just a few promotional posts per month and doesn’t endorse anything on Instagram “unless I really believe in it.” Asked how she makes her promotional posts seem authentic, Johnson said she doesn’t need to.
“I don't really make it look like anything—it is authentic,” she told dot.LA, pointing to videos she shared of her playing with children in Kenya or receiving some help putting on a hijab in Egypt.
“Those are all real moments that I've had,” she added. “And some of these moments can be helped when I'm learning language from language apps.”
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Christian Hetrick
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
Snap Executive Tells Congress Banning Snapchat Drug Sales Is Their 'Top Priority'
01:46 PM | October 26, 2021
Image from Shutterstock
Snap, TikTok and YouTube executives defended their efforts to protect kids on their platforms as Congress members battered them with questions Tuesday about the algorithms, safety measures and practices they use to keep young people engaged with their apps.
All the executives broadly said that they thought certain explicit content for underage users should be restricted, but they didn't commit to backing specific legislation.
The Oct. 26 subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee hearing was chaired by Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Today's meeting comes just after revelations that Facebook feeds exacerbated teens' body issues and algorithms steered them to harmful content.
Unlike Facebook, Santa Monica-based social media company Snap has largely evaded government scrutiny. But the company was in the spotlight as it fended off questions from lawmakers about its responsibility to keep drug sales off its Snapchat app. A bipartisan group of senators accused the company along with TikTok and YouTube of failing to protect children from pornography and posts encouraging suicide and drug use.
"It seems like every day that I hear stories of kids and teens who are suffering after interacting with TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat. Kids as young as nine have died doing viral challenges on TikTok," Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn said. "We've seen teen girls lured into inappropriate sexual relationships with predators on Snapchat. You're parents, how can you allow this?"
Throughout her testimony, Jennifer Stout, Snap vice president of global public policy and John Kerry's former deputy chief of staff, tried to distance Snapchat from its competitors like Facebook, its subsidiary Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Stout attempted to portray Snapchat content as more heavily curated than its other social media counterparts, and argued that since it doesn't have a timeline feature, the app's main purpose is to facilitate direct messages between friends and groups of people who already know each other.
Stout also pushed back against accusations that Snapchat shows users a stream of unfiltered harmful content on its Discover page by saying that its "discovered content" is part of a walled garden that is monitored.
"It's intended to be a close ecosystem where we have better control of the content that surfaces," she said.
Sen. Mike Lee from Utah pushed back on this argument from Snapchat, saying his staff had set up a fake account for a 15-year-old and was swiftly bombarded by "wildly inappropriate" materials including an online sexualized video game, articles about porn stars and posts on why to not go to bars alone.
"I respectfully but very strongly beg to differ on your characterization that the content is in fact suitable for children 13 and up," Lee told Stout.
Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar questioned whether Snap had done enough to prevent drug sales on the platform. Two teens in her state –19-year-old Devin Norrin and 23-year-old Ryan McPherson– died after taking pills from dealers they met on Snapchat selling what they thought were prescription painkillers like Percocet but were actually laced with fentanyl.
Klobuchar asked Stout if Snap would be more transparent about the "automated tools" it uses to identify and remove illegal drug-related content.
"We have stepped up and we have deployed proactive detection measures to get in ahead of what the drug dealers are doing. They are constantly evading our tactics, not just on Snapchat, but on every platform," Stout said.
Earlier this month, Snap announced in-app tools that funnel searches for drug-related words to an anti-drug education campaign and said it has cracked down on the sale of illicit drugs on the site.
The move came after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reported a rise in the availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine often purchased on social media sites used by teens. Parents whose children died because of fentanyl-related overdoses have complained the platform has become an e-commerce site for sale of these dangerous drugs.
Norrin and McPherson's cases aren't an anomaly; NBC News reported this month that teens and young adults have died from overdosing on fentanyl-laced pills they found through Snapchat in at least 14 states.
Klobuchar said social media companies should be held responsible if someone overdoses on drugs obtained through their apps.
"I think there's other ways to do this, too, such as creating liability when this happens, so maybe that'll make you work even faster so we don't lose another kid," Klobuchar said.
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Samson Amore
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
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samsonamore@dot.la
Mars, Money, and Makeovers : LA’s Big Week
08:43 AM | December 06, 2024
🔦 Spotlight
Happy Friday, LA!
This week has been full of energy in LA’s tech world, with some big moves that are hard to ignore. From a local company going public to bold partnerships and exciting projects, here’s a look at the stories driving conversations and shaping what’s happening right now.
ServiceTitan's IPO Ambitions
Image Source: ServiceTitan - Cofounders Ara Mahdessian & Vahe Kuzoyan
ServiceTitan, a Glendale-based software leader for tradespeople like plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians, is gearing up for a major step forward: its initial public offering. The company plans to offer 8.8 million shares priced between $52 and $57, targeting a valuation of up to $5.16 billion. Trading under the ticker “TTAN” on the Nasdaq, ServiceTitan’s IPO is backed by financial heavyweights Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. ServiceTitan’s software simplifies essential tasks such as scheduling and payments for trades professionals, providing much-needed solutions in an industry frequently underserved by technology. The IPO reflects both the company’s rapid growth and a broader trend of integrating advanced tools into foundational industries.
SpaceX: Shooting for the Stars (and $350 Billion)
Image Source: SpaceX
SpaceX is on the verge of solidifying its place as the world’s most valuable startup, with insiders estimating a valuation of $350 billion, according to Forbes. It’s not just about rockets anymore; this company has its sights on global internet domination with Starlink and a future where Mars isn’t just science fiction. Investors are clearly betting big on SpaceX’s ability to pull off the impossible—time and time again. The company’s achievements not only redefine the limits of private enterprise but also establish SpaceX as a key player in reshaping humanity’s relationship with space. For the LA tech scene, SpaceX’s valuation is more than a number; it’s a reminder of what’s possible when ambition meets execution. The question isn’t “what’s next?”—it’s “what’s not?”
Anduril x OpenAI: The Future of AI Defense
Image Source: Anduril
In a move that underscores the rapid convergence of defense and cutting-edge AI, Costa Mesa-based Anduril Industries announced a partnership with OpenAI. This collaboration aims to bolster U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence while enhancing national security capabilities. Anduril, known for its autonomous defense technologies, is leveraging OpenAI’s advanced AI systems to supercharge its offerings. The implications? Think faster decision-making and smarter tech on the battlefield. This partnership not only signals Anduril’s commitment to innovation but also highlights the growing importance of AI in reshaping defense.
The Rose Bowl Legacy: Preserving an Icon
Image Source: VisitPasadena
The Rose Bowl, Pasadena’s iconic stadium and a symbol of Southern California’s rich history, is gearing up for an $80 million transformation as part of its "Lasting Legacy Campaign." This effort isn’t just about preparing for the 2028 Olympics—it’s about enhancing the fan experience while staying true to the venue’s historic roots. From new field-level club seats to a cutting-edge videoboard, upgraded Wi-Fi, and even a refurbished marquee sign, this project balances nostalgia with modern innovation. The Rose Bowl has always been more than just a stadium—it’s a cultural landmark that represents LA’s ability to honor its past while embracing the future. If there’s a place that embodies where history meets progress, it’s here.
2024 Wrapped: Your Year in Music
Image Source: Spotify
As the year winds down, music lovers are diving into Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay 2024. These features don’t just highlight our favorite tracks; they showcase how deeply music integrates into our daily lives and memories. For anyone in the tech or startup world, these features are a masterclass in how data-driven personalization can deepen user loyalty and turn casual interactions into powerful engagement.
Whether it’s setting the stage for the next space frontier, advancing national security with AI, or revitalizing a cultural landmark, this week’s stories remind us that progress is as much about preserving what matters as it is about reaching for what’s next.
🤝 Venture Deals
LA Companies
- Nectir, an educational technology company that allows educators to design customized AI teaching assistants providing students with 24/7 personalized support, has raised a $4M Seed funding round led by Long Journey Ventures to develop new features and expand its team. - learn more
- Talus Network, a blockchain platform merging AI and decentralized tech to create smart agents, has raised a $6M Strategic funding round led by Polychain Capital at a $150M valuation to advance its ecosystem, including Protochain, Nexus, and an AI dating app. - learn more
LA Venture Funds
- Alexandria Venture Investments and B Capital participated in a $161M Series B financing round for Nuvig Therapeutics, a California-based biotech company specializing in immunomodulation therapies, to advance its second-generation immunomodulator into Phase 2 clinical development and expand its pipeline. - learn more
- Plus Capital participated in a $35M Series B funding round for Sage, a New York-based company specializing in senior living operations, to enhance its technology platform and expand its services across the U.S. and internationally - learn more
- Supply Chain Capital led a $4.5M Seed funding round for Celleste Bio, a cocoa tech company specializing in cell-cultured cocoa production, to scale its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate sustainable cocoa innovation. - learn more
- Village Global co-led a $5.75M Seed funding round for Across AI, a San Francisco-based startup developing AI-driven enterprise solutions, to accelerate product development and expand its team. - learn more
- M13 led a $5.4M Seed funding round for Cat Labs, an Austin-based startup focused on combating crypto and AI-enabled crime, with the funds being used to develop tools and services that address digital asset security threats. - learn more
- Chapter One Ventures participated in a $4M Seed funding round for Fiamma, a Singapore-based startup focused on decentralized finance infrastructure, with the funds being used to develop innovative tools for secure and efficient on-chain lending. - learn more
- The Games Fund participated in a $3M funding round for Playgama, a gaming platform that simplifies the distribution and monetization of HTML5 games across various platforms; the investment will be used to enhance their Platform-as-a-Service ecosystem, including monetization, quality assurance, and management tools. - learn more
- Fika Ventures led a $6M Seed funding round for StretchDollar, a Pittsburgh and San Francisco-based fintech startup that simplifies health benefits for small businesses through a self-service platform; the funds will be used to enhance their platform and expand their team. - learn more
- OCV participated in a $27.6M funding round for OSSIO, a Woburn, Massachusetts-based medical device company specializing in bio-integrative orthopedic implants; the funds will accelerate commercial efforts, including new product development and establishing a manufacturing and training center in Florida. - learn more
- Avalaunch participated in a $6.5M Seed funding round for Avant, a Palo Alto-based decentralized finance protocol that issues a "stable-value" token called avUSD, to scale its crypto yield products. - learn more
- Rebel Fund participated in a $2.5M Seed funding round for Circleback, a San Francisco startup that uses AI to generate meeting notes and action items, integrating with platforms like HubSpot and Notion; the funding will support expansion and development. - learn more
LA Exits
- Mission Cloud Services, a leading AWS managed services and consulting provider, has been acquired by CDW to enhance its cloud solutions portfolio. - learn more
- Of Kos, formerly VMed, a healthcare marketing agency specializing in digital and creative solutions, has been acquired by ONAR, a global network of marketing agencies, as part of its expansion into the healthcare marketing sector. - learn more
- Rhapsody Voices, a boutique podcast network representing leading content creators and offering tailored solutions for revenue growth through sponsorship representation, content creation, strategy, and marketing, has been acquired by Evergreen Podcasts. - learn more
- TEDIVO, a Long Beach-based software provider specializing in container supply chain tools like BAPLIE Viewer Online, has been acquired by Lynxis to enhance its port orchestration products and improve cargo management efficiency. - learn more
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