Astute raises $1.2M and launches B2B new media platform

Astute has closed an oversubscribed $1.2 million pre-seed round as it opens up a new platform for B2B companies that want to work with newsletter, podcast and social media creators. Flyer One Ventures, Silicon Gardens, Marathon Fund and Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator backed the round, along with strategic angels.

The company, founded by Vida Stanić and Abhishek Manikandan, is betting that B2B marketing is following the same path consumer brands already took: away from old standbys like ads, PR and search, and toward independent media channels. That shift is messy. There are millions of creators, and businesses have to figure out who actually matters, who is talking about them, and how to keep the partnership moving.

Astute’s answer is software built around two AI agents. One is meant to act like a talent manager for creators, handling the admin around brand deals. The other works on the company side, helping B2B teams find creators, shape partnership ideas and run campaigns. The platform also watches more than one million creator posts per minute to spot where businesses and their rivals are being discussed.

From there, it recommends partnerships and handles opportunities such as editorial placements, interviews, podcast appearances, advertising and event collaborations. It also tracks results using measures like impressions, conversions, brand visibility and visibility in AI-powered search engines. Stanić says the big problem is still discovery and outreach, especially for teams that have never had to do this work by hand.

Astute is also making a bigger bet: that distribution will matter more as AI makes product development easier and competition fiercer. The company expects creator-made content to matter more to AI-powered discovery and recommendation systems too. For now, though, the pitch is simpler. B2B companies need help finding the people who can move attention, and Astute wants to be the machinery behind that.