The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused content monetization startup Curastory of overstating revenue to investors and misrepresenting true client numbers, according to paperwork seen by TechCrunch.
As a result of a settlement with the SEC, Curastory’s founder and CEO, Tiffany Kelly, has resigned from the role and replaced herself with Dave Dickman, former CEO of the influencer marketing platform Tagger.
Under Dickman’s leadership, the company has begun fundraising, international expansion plans and product updates, Kelly and Dickman tell TechCrunch.
The settlement agreement specifically barred Kelly for ten years from serving on the board of directors or as an executive at any company that would, essentially, fundraise. TechCrunch saw a version of this agreement that had not yet been finalized. It stated that Kelly agreed to these stipulations without admitting to or denying the allegations.
Although Kelly remains a major shareholder and will remain an advisor, she told TechCrunch that stepping aside was truly the only decision that I could make just to keep the company alive and thriving,” she said.
Kelly founded the company in 2021. Curastory is a platform that helps content creators monetize their videos and has grown to about 400,000 creators using it, she said. It lets advertisers buy in-video ads from creators, while tracking metrics and supporting other features, like video editing.
It has raised around $3 million to date from investors including LightSpeed’s Scout Fund, Feld Ventures, and Mindspring Capital, according to Pitchbook, which also listed it as having participated in a few accelerator programs like Techstars and the SPARK Program, held by AMEX Ventures and Project W, according to Pitchbook.
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“It’s been a wild ride,” she admitted. As part of the settlement, Kelly also agreed to pay a fine.
Kelly told TechCrunch that she did not know what triggered the SEC investigation. She said she received a subpoena in June and in January was issued the violations notice from the SEC.
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