Jemi

Jemi was a no-code website and online store builder aimed at creators and entrepreneurs. Its drag-and-drop site builder allowed users to launch a branded e-commerce site without coding or design experience, and creators used it to set up storefronts selling merchandise tied to their content, including physical goods such as autographed photos and DVDs as well as experiences like one-on-one virtual hangouts and classes.

The product was originally positioned as an alternative to subscription-based creator monetization platforms such as Patreon, focused on one-time fan purchases completed with shipping and credit-card details in a single checkout flow. Early users included musicians, athletes and actors with audiences on live-streaming platforms such as TikTok, among them former Guns N' Roses guitarist Bumblefoot, figure skater Karen Chen, and actor Sean Whalen. Jemi was part of Y Combinator's Summer 2020 batch, was based in San Francisco with a team size of 3, and was acquired by media company Brat TV in November 2023.

Founding story

Co-founders Annie Hwang and Jason Cui met on the first day of college at Harvard and later began dating. After graduating in 2018 they both worked as product managers; Hwang was previously a product manager on Facebook's Creator Monetization team. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the pair began exploring ways for audiences on live-streaming platforms such as TikTok to interact with and pay content creators, and launched a private beta of Jemi in April 2020.

Business model

Jemi provided a hosted, self-serve site and store builder for creators. At launch the company took a cut of each transaction processed through creator storefronts, though the specific rate was not disclosed.

Transaction-based: Jemi took a percentage of each sale made through creators' stores, with the exact take rate undisclosed.

Traction

Sean Whalen, an actor with more than 100,000 TikTok followers, reported sales increases of over 30% after moving from Venmo and PayPal to Jemi, selling roughly 40-50 items in two hours during his busiest live streams. Jemi's founders were named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 in 2021 after helping creators generate $10,000 in a single month. Team size was reported as 3.

Latest developments

Brat TV, a Gen Z-focused media company behind shows such as Chicken Girls, announced its acquisition of Jemi on 30 November 2023. Brat co-founder Rob Fishman said the all-stock deal's price was not disclosed, that Jemi's leadership would move on, and that Brat intends to use Jemi's site-building technology to commercialize its creator partnerships through direct fan sales. Fishman also said Brat planned further acquisitions.