Startup profile for favorited: latest funding, latest known valuation, total disclosed funding, investors, status, sources, and why the company is interesting. Part of the Venture Capital Tracker startup directory.
Venture Capital Tracker logo
Venture Capital Tracker

Startup profile · funding coverage

favorited funding, valuation and investors

favorited is an Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) portfolio company currently tracked as part of our hot a16z coverage set.

Keep track of favorited

Save this profile to your VCT watchlist for a quick return.

View watchlist

Funding, valuation & investors

Answer-first snapshot

Latest funding

Pre-seed

$1.3M · January 2025

Latest known valuation

Not publicly disclosed

Total disclosed equity funding

$1.3M

Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.

Current status

private

pre seed

Investors in latest funding

Other: HF0 , Soma Ventures

Sources: latest funding Last verified: 2026-07-25

Overview

Favorited is a gamified livestreaming platform where creators monetize via virtual gifts, interactive games, and leaderboards — positioned as a creator-first alternative to TikTok Live. Founded 2023 by David Tesler and Zach Ferraro. Raised $1.3M pre-seed from HF0 and Soma Ventures; participated in a16z Speedrun accelerator (program funding, not direct a16z VC round per TechCrunch correction).

Why favorited is interesting

favorited appears on a16z’s public investment list. We include it because a16z-backed companies are disproportionately “on fire” for follow-on capital, hiring, and category creation — useful for founders mapping competitors and investors mapping active theses (AI, American Dynamism, crypto, bio, fintech).

Product & use cases

Gamified livestreaming app — virtual gifts, streaks, leaderboards, and creator monetization beyond algorithm feeds.

  • Creator livestream monetization via gifts
  • Interactive gamified broadcasts
  • Alternative to TikTok Live for top streamers

Key facts

  • Pre-seed (Jan 2025): $1.3M from HF0, Soma Ventures; a16z Speedrun accelerator only (TechCrunch)
  • Co-investors: no additional institutional investors disclosed in public sources reviewed 2026-07-24

Funding history (newest first)

Pre-seed

2025-01 $1.3M
  • HF0 (participant)
  • Soma Ventures (participant)

Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/22/livestream-app-favorited-a-new-tiktok-alternative-gets-backing-from-a16z/

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from favorited's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Andreessen Horowitz

Competitive landscape

Edge: favorited differentiates through focused product scope and a16z-backed GTM in its category — see competitors for tradeoffs vs. incumbents.

favorited operates in a competitive category where incumbents have distribution but startups win on workflow fit. See named competitors for honest better/worse notes; we do not invent market share.

  • TikTok Live direct

    Incumbent live gifting; Favorited creator-first economics.

  • Twitch adjacent

    Live streaming incumbent; different audience and monetization.

Notable stories

  • TechCrunch noted a16z Speedrun accelerator participation — not a direct a16z VC investment in the pre-seed round.

Industries

Consumer Media & Entertainment

FAQs about favorited

Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.

Gamified livestreaming app — virtual gifts, streaks, leaderboards, and creator monetization beyond algorithm feeds.
Andreessen Horowitz (/fund/andreessen-horowitz) among disclosed investors. See fundraising rounds and investors[] for co-investors in our directory.
We track a16z-backed companies strategically relevant for founders mapping competitors and investors following active theses.
Stage: pre-seed; status: private.
See fundraisingRounds — amounts included only when verified in press or company announcements.
See competitors and competitiveAnalysis sections for named alternatives.
Profitability not publicly disclosed unless noted in highlights. Public companies: check SEC filings.
Tagged: consumer, media-entertainment.
Website All startups Funding news

By Venture Capital Tracker

Last updated:

Editorial note: AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.