Duel, a leading Brand Advocacy platform, has raised $16 million in a Series A round to help retail brands like Lush, ELEMIS, Victoria’s Secret, and Abercrombie & Fitch grow through fan and creator communities instead of traditional advertising. The round was co-led by Molten Ventures and Bright Pixel, alongside existing investor Peter Bauer, founder of Mimecast.
Turning Fans into Growth Drivers
Duel enables brands to recruit, activate, and scale networks of creators, including customers, professionals, and emerging talent. These advocates generate authentic content, influence purchasing behavior, and drive referrals across social platforms. The platform provides measurable, always-on advocacy that transforms everyday customers into scalable growth engines.
“The most successful brands today invest in people and communities, not ads,” said Paul Archer, CEO and co-founder of Duel. “A brand’s best marketers are the customers already sharing the products they love.”
Duel’s Advocate Relationship Management platform tracks and engages every advocate, from customers to ambassadors and employees. Brands can now manage tens of thousands of advocates using the same resources that previously supported only hundreds.
Driving the Future of Brand Growth
“This is rewriting how modern brands grow,” said Nicola McClafferty, Partner at Molten Ventures. “Performance marketing is expensive and impersonal. Duel’s approach aligns with how consumers discover and engage with brands.”
Miguel Bagulho, Investment Director at Bright Pixel Capital, added: “Transactional campaigns are losing effectiveness. Brands building communities and long-term value will dominate. Duel turns advocacy into a scalable strategy.”
Duel plans to expand Brand Advocacy beyond retail, applying the model across B2B, music, hospitality, professional services, and entertainment. Archer concludes: “We empower brands to humanize themselves, leverage fans, and turn everyday advocacy into their most powerful growth channel.”
This Series A funding brings Duel’s total investment to over $21 million.
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News Source: Businesswire.com
