Fresh from scoring the game-winning penalty against Australia on Saturday, Leinster and Ireland fly-half Ross Byrne has launched Starfolio, an online marketplace connecting influencers, sports personalities and other talent with brands.

The rugby international and business partners, Mark Lyttleton and Michael Rogers of LyttleINC Venture Firm, have agreed partnerships with three companies from LyttleINC’s own portfolio at launch.

The trio have spent the past two years researching the market, developing the platform and raising private funding, and they aim for Starfolio to become a major operator in the fast-growing and lucrative areas of branding and influencer growth. Worldwide, the global influencer industry is estimated to be worth $16.4bn.

"Our team and investors believe there is a gap in the marketplace for our platform to make it easy for businesses and the corporate world to see who is available for specific events and campaigns," Byrne said.

“In a nutshell, our platform makes it easy for stars to market themselves. It outlines which services and sponsorships are available and those looking for a personality for a specific function or gig have just one click to see who is offering what in the marketplace. We are here to facilitate the easy transaction of bookings for brands and talent.

In Association with

“Starfolio enables businesses to engage with talent and create experiences for consumers and in the workplace. Staff morale, retention and recruitment would easily be enhanced if companies, for instance, hired in a celebrity chef to share cooking tips or a sports personality arrived to talk about match preparation and setting goals.”  

Michael Rogers, CEO of Starfolio, said the company would work with both agents representing talent and individuals who want to manage their own profiles.

"We are here to drive new revenue generating opportunities to both," he added.

Starfolio will shortly be starting a new round of funding to accelerate its growth into new markets.

The company has partnerships in place to assist with its expansion as well as plans to integrate into XYZ, the website-generating API business, to allow clients to set up their own e-commerce stores to sell products and merchandise.

Starfolio has also partnered with Peblo, recently acquired by Wayflyer, which allows stars to get paid upfront upon accepting their gigs.