Wrapbook raises $34 million CAD to capitalize on digital transformation in entertainment industry

Wrapbook, a Toronto and New York-based startup at the intersection of entertainment and FinTech, has raised a $34 million CAD ($27 million USD) Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Wrapbook offers payroll software specifically for media production companies. Cast and crew members create profiles that allow media companies to complete payroll without users having to refill employment paperwork with every new company they work with. The Series A round involved all new capital and Wrapbook has raised approximately $40 million CAD total, to date.

After launching during COVID-19, the startup claims its revenue has increased “sevenfold.”

The Series A round is a significant one for Wrapbook, which raised its first external round of financing just last year. The latest round also included entertainment industry executives Michael Ovitz, founder of the talent agency behind Barbra Streisand and Steven Spielberg, and WndrCo, the investment company of Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks SKG and former Walt Disney Studios and Paramount Studios executive. Equal Ventures and Uncork Capital, which both invested in Wrapbook’s seed round, reinvested in Wrapbook’s Series A round.

Cameron Woodward, Wrapbook’s co-founder and CMO, told BetaKit that market demand pushed the startup to build out its product. He added that the fresh funding will enable Wrapbook to “hire quickly and build out a world-class team in Canada.”

Woodward added that the startup’s new investors will help Wrapbook “bring a digital transformation to project-based work.”

The new Series A round comes just more than six months after the company announced its seed funding, when it pulled in $4.7 million CAD.

Wrapbook’s software aims to solve some of the challenges faced by project-driven industries, from on-boarding, to paying, insuring, accounting, factoring in the nature of the work, and hazards and timing of payment. The startup aims to replace current paper-driven processes with its digital system.

“Our goal is to replace the pain points of the current cobbled together approach with an easy-to-use platform that meets everyone’s needs,” said Woodward.

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After launching during COVID-19, the startup claims its revenue has “increased sevenfold” across television, film, live, and commercial productions.

By putting live events on hold, COVID-19 has sent the entertainment sector into a state of upheaval and accelerated the industry’s digital transformation.

Ali Javid, Wrapbook’s CEO and co-founder, previously told BetaKit that COVID-19 has only accelerated the startup’s thesis. The startup believes it is well positioned to serve the needs of companies with remote work locations and workers who onboard multiple new projects per year and need to track payments.

Wrapbook’s team is currently split between the United States and Canada, with all of its product and engineering teams based in Ontario. Javid told BetaKit the dual operations in Canada and the US have been beneficial for the startup’s business.

“It’s a unique advantage because I think Silicon Valley and New York venture capital operates differently than Canadian VCs still,” said Javid. “It’s advantageous to reach into that bucket while we’re also reaching into the advantage of the Canadian tech scene. I feel like we’re getting the best of both worlds in that way.”

With files from Meagan Simpson. Photo by Jakob Owens via Unsplash