Investment-backed startup Contact.xyz helps industry creatives book jobs with brands like Balenciaga and Burberry

Contact.xyz – Google Domains customer – (United Kingdom)

The .xyz community is home to innovative startups that have developed new services to meet the changing needs of our society. Digital talent measurement solution Questy.xyz aims to automate recruitment workflow, assess candidates’ skills, and map a complete employee development lifecycle. Learning tool Fingerspelling.xyz leverages hand recognition technology paired with machine learning to help teach American Sign Language. Brooklyn-based events startup PizzaTime.xyz helps facilitate catering and virtual experiences for remote teams. In this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, we’ll introduce you to a London-based startup designed to empower and support entertainment industry creatives to make a living: Contact.xyz.

Contact.xyz is the online home of Contact, a platform designed to help models, photographers, hair and makeup artists, and more, showcase their talents and connect with brands to book work. The London-based platform works to help furnish over 900 creatives with the tools and resources they need to thrive in the entertainment industry. Contact.xyz has helped creatives connect with major brands including Nike, Vivienne Westwood, Vogue, Balenciaga, and Burberry. Contact.xyz is backed by venture capital firms like Founders Fund and Rhino Ventures, and actress Maisie Williams. Their latest funding was raised on May 16, 2022. Reuben and his team applied the funding to expanding the platform to all of Europe.¹

The innovative platform helps creatives promote their talents and helps brands find the right artists to hire. Creatives can join Contact.xyz to begin showcasing their portfolio across different creative services. On the Creatives page, applicants can join the creative community that “celebrates the oddballs, outcasts and underdogs.” You can choose your creative discipline from four options: Model, Photographer, Hair/Makeup Artist, or Other. Next, you can create your profile. Provide your name, date of birth, pronouns, your social media handles, a short bio, and more to begin promoting yourself. Businesses and brands can visit the Book Creatives page to browse and discover creative talent using filters. They can shortlist creative talent, provide details about the job they’re hiring for, and book creatives directly. Creatives can accept or reject jobs via Contact.xyz. Once the job has been completed, the creative is paid directly by Contact.xyz. This feature helps creatives avoid the occupational challenges of chasing down a payment. The artist-focused platform is free to use for creatives seeking work, and is designed to allow the talent to brand itself independently across different verticals. Contact.xyz charges bookers a 20% booking fee, which is designed to help them save money by booking talent through the platform, rather than through an agent. Since launching in 2020, Contact.xyz boasts upwards of 2,000 projects that brands, casting directors, and world-leading photographers, have booked through the innovative platform. 

CEO and co-founder Reuben Selby is also the creative director of his own eponymous fashion label. On Contact.xyz, Reuben shares his inspiration: “I deeply care about creating a safe, and inclusive space that empowers people to express themselves and their unique personalities and talents. I’m driven to help people get fairly paid for their talents, find balance and live more free and expressive lives.” We are inspired by Reuben’s forward-thinking to help creatives find work in a challenging industry. His passion and innovation make Contact.xyz a great fit in the .xyz community. You can learn more by following the platform on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and by visiting Contact.xyz.

^{1. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/the-contact-agency}