These 10 Startups Used Explainer Video to Raise Millions of Dollars

Explainer videos have always been a popular marketing tool among brands from every industry. But do you know that their scope goes beyond traditional video marketing? That’s right! There are hundreds of successful startups today that leveraged explainer videos in their starting days to attract new investors. By seamlessly combining visual storytelling with purely educational content, they successfully raised millions of dollars to boost their growth—all through a minute-long footage filled with value.

In this case study article, we will be looking at some of such success stories. Let’s jump in without any ado!

1. Dropbox – Raised $1.2 Million in Seed Funding

Imagine starting a whole company just because you used to forget your USB at home on crucial occasions.

Well, that’s the story of Dropbox, the industry leader of today’s file hosting services industry. Thanks to one-of-a-kind service at the time, a fairly simple growth strategy, and a fair number of interested investors, the growth of Dropbox was meteoric right from the beginning back in 2008.

The Explainer Video Went Viral!

One thing that’s played an important role in this growth, and what’s not often talked about, is the explainer that the company produced. Mind you, Dropbox was an absolutely new concept at the time of its release, and in order to attract users and investors, they needed to explain what it was in the first place. A simple explainer helped Dropbox get its first 75,000 sign-ups overnight, its first partner, and a whopping $1.2 million seed funding from investors.

The video currently has 4.7 million views on YouTube and stands as a monument to how a well-crafted explainer can transform the trajectory of your growth by putting forth your brand message to the world.

2. Dollar Shave Club – Raised $1 Million in Seed Funding

12 years ago, Dollar Shave Club was launched. It introduced a one-of-a-kind subscription-based razor service to the American market, and it did it with style by racking up more than 12,000 orders in just the first two days of its launch. As you can imagine, their website crashed.

Everyone Loved Their Explainer Video!

One would wonder what they did to have a launch of such massive scale. And… you’re right! They made an explainer video, a video that would redefine how brand messages are communicated. It was informative, it was fun to watch and funny. The three ingredients of ultimate virality.

Dollar Shave Club is the best example of a success that, albeit of an excellent service, can be entirely accredited to an outclass explainer video, which stands at 28 million views on YouTube as of today. Thanks to the viral video, the company secured $1 million in seed funding almost immediately, later to be acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in cash in 2016.

3. Mint – Raised $31 Million Before Being Acquired by Intuit

Unlike the above two, Mint didn’t achieve a crazy overnight success with just one viral animated explainer video. What they did, though, was to create multiple explainer videos that showcased the functionality, features, and benefits of their premier personal financial management website and mobile application.

The use of these videos had a net positive impact on their overall growth, helping them build early user traction and attract a lot of high-profile investors. The company quickly raised over $31 million in investment across various rounds from different investors. The startup was later acquired by Inuit for $170 million.

Although Mint was shut down in 2024, it’s a compelling case study that efficiently showcases the impact of explainers in marketing and fundraising.

4. Crazy Egg – Boosted Revenue and Secured Growth Capital

No matter how good you are at explaining things, certain things are just too complicated—heatmaps being one of them. Crazy Egg was facing the same issue back in 2006. Being the pioneers of heatmap technology, the startup founders had to explain everything from scratch to everyone, every single time.

Their Explainer Video Was a Huge Hit!

As you can imagine, this created significant hurdles for them to appeal to their target audience. And worse, attract any good investors to scale. So they did what every sensible brand would do. They started focusing on making engaging explainers to explain their product through well executed animated video.

The results were explosive. Crazy Egg’s reach increased, and the startup saw a huge increase in its service subscriptions. Given the rapid growth, the startup company also attracted some giant investors along the way, scaling the business to new heights.

Today, over 400k websites across the web use Crazy Egg to optimize their website user experience, having an annual revenue of over $3.8 million. And yes, explainer videos remain a key part of their marketing campaign even today.

5. Pendo – Raised $20 Million with a Strong Video Pitch

Pendo is another remarkable case study where a startup harnessed the power of explainer video to boost its pitches and attract investors and customers. While the real game changer was still the SaaS product itself, what helped Pendo attract the most investors was the use of explainer videos in their pitches.

This is apparent from the stark difference between the amount that Pendo raised in its Series A and Series B funding. In Series A funding, the startup was able to raise $11 million. As it incorporated explainer videos in its pitch, the investment increased to $20 million—almost by a hundred percent.

One thing we learn from this and the previous examples? Investors love good explainers that perfectly outline the main pain points and how your product helps solve them.

6. Airbnb – Raised $600,000 in Seed Funding

If we told you to rent your house to complete strangers every day, it would seem quite an absurd idea. The same happened with Airbnb at the start. It struggled to explain how the concept of “renting a house to strangers” worked and how it could be a lucrative business opportunity.

However, that’s only until it released a short explainer about how the trend of short-term stays is increasing among tourists worldwide, how one could capitalize on this opportunity, and how Airbnb as a digital platform is set to revolutionize the growing market by facilitating seamless connections between property owners and travelers.

The result? Airbnb successfully gathered over $60,000 in seed funding from Y Combinator, later growing into a multi-billion dollar company. Today, Airbnb is the biggest short-term rentals marketplace online, with no other competition even close.

7. GoFundMe – Used Video to Drive Donations and Secure Investment

As the name implies, GoFundMe is an online crowdfunding platform that facilitates individuals and non-profit organizations. The platform has long been relying on video content to raise funds and donations for social welfare causes.

GoFundMe has raised over $600 million through video-driven campaigns and about $100 million worth of funds from some prominent investors. As we speak now, GoFundMe still attracts donors through compelling and emotional storytelling, having collected $30 billion since its inception in 2010.

8. Slack –  Used an explainer video for investor pitches and raised $250 million.

The name of Slack is synonymous with teamwork today. However, there are tens of such applications that provide the same functionality. So what made Slack so successful? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is its top-class branding, with a fair chunk of it consisting of high-quality explainer videos.

Interestingly, explainers are also the reason why Slack took off immediately after its launch, raising the company over $250 million in its D series funding. Currently, the company is valued at $27 billion and is only growing as it goes on to include more collaborative features to improve project management and team communications.

9. Revolut – Raised $800 Million with a Strong Video-Centric Campaign

Revolut is a digital banking startup that also used explainer videos to boost their initial growth. However, its strategy was a bit unique compared to the other names we mentioned. Along with using explainers at investor presentations, Revolut also used them at crowdfunding platforms.

Guess what? Revolut successfully attracted over 30,000 investors, which, combined with investments from some venture capital firms, led to $800 million in funding in its initial run. As of now, the company has raised about $1.7 billion in funding and is valued at $45 billion.

10. Zenefits – Raised $500 Million

Zenefits is an HR software startup that provides HR process automation to businesses around the world. Although the company isn’t performing at its best at the moment, it had its fair share of success in the start. Thanks to using explainer videos as one of its most powerful tools to attract more user signups and investors.

Zenefits was able to attract $500 million in investment from top-tier industry sharks and a huge number of users as they started focusing on video marketing. Although the current valuation of the company is not clearly available, it was valued at $4.5 billion at some point, having one of the most rapid growth rates in its initial days.

Need to Make an Explainer Video for Your Business?

Making an excellent explainer video is a nuanced job that requires simplifying dry and complex topics while keeping the creative spark alive. At Kasra Design, we know how to achieve that. With our expertise and your input, we turn educational videos into creative masterpieces that amplify your voice, deliver your message, and boost conversions. Contact our team here: Kasradesign.com/get-a-quote