MyFluence
Company description
MyFluence is a marketplace app designed to connect small and mid-size businesses with local social media influencers for targeted ad campaigns — the kind of influencer marketing that's historically been priced out of reach for anyone without a big enterprise ad budget. The pitch was straightforward: a local pizza shop in Brownsville has no use for a New York–based influencer, so MyFluence's model matches "Sponsors" (businesses) with "Promoters" (influencers) based on local reach and relevance, and handles campaign management for both sides. The company was part of the Emerging Industries cohort of Startup Texas, the accelerator and pitch competition sponsored by the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) in partnership with UTRGV's Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center (ECC) and taught at the eBridge Center.
CEO Derrick D'Acolatse has been an entrepreneur since 2012, building a Bay Area, California real estate company (Legacy) spanning residential and commercial property management, sales, and HOA management, and holds both a California real estate broker's license and a Texas realtor's license. He graduated summa cum laude from South Texas College in Organizational Leadership and pursued an MBA in Entrepreneurship at UTRGV. His co-founders, Yaw Sam and Joshua Howard, both come from Brand Geniuz, a social media marketing firm they founded together — Sam holds an MBA in Marketing from UTRGV, taught social media there as a part-time lecturer, and was named a UTRGV Future Texas Business Legend by the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2020; Howard brought more than 16 years of sales and advertising experience, including growing one client's annual sales from $1.5 million to $3.6 million through social media strategy.
Founders: Derrick D'Acolatse (CEO), Yaw Sam (Chief Marketing Officer), and Joshua Howard (Chief Sales Officer)
Program: 2023 StartUp Texas Accelerator - Emerging Industries cohort
Links and socials
Facebook: facebook.com/myfluenceapp
App Store listing: MyFluence
Google Play listing: myfluence