ear1, a Ghana-based social media startup that allows people to talk to influencers and professionals for a nominal fee, has secured $520,000 pre-seed round led by Danny Oyekan of Dan Ventures, with Alkesh Thavrani of Stellar International and Prosper Otemuyiwa (CTO of EdenLife) as well as other participants.

“We’re thrilled with the recently concluded raise as it allows us to build faster and better. Ear1 is a product with endless possibilities. Our goal is to align incentives around network connections. People with serious messages for top professionals and celebrities can now get their messages across faster by paying to talk to them,” Atsu Davoh, founder and CEO of Ear1 said. 

The startup intends to use the funding to build out its platform, engage the influencer community, promote the app, as well as partner with creators.

“ear1 is one product that will change the lives of creators and democratize access to top people in any field. I expect the product to morph quickly into an app that supports groups of people in open and closed channels. We might also see it become a one-stop platform for recruiters to talk to top talents in any industry,” Prosper Otemuyiwa, an investor in ear1 and CTO of EdenLife also commented on the investment. 

A Look At What ear1 Does

Founded in 2021 by BitSika CEO and co-founder, Atsu Davoh, ear1 (pronounced ‘ear-one’), Ear1 enables anyone to sign up and create a paywall that allows them to communicate with experts and ‘social media influencers’ for a fee. ear1 is essentially a premium direct message service for priority discussions.

Read also:MTN Ghana to Launch 5G Network in 2022

The app is not yet available on Google Play or the Apple App Store. According to a recent tweet from Atsu, the ear1 app has been submitted for evaluation to both playstores and will be released soon.

However, due to payments constraints, ear1 is only available to users in Nigeria and Ghana.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer