Beast Industries has hired Ronak Trivedi, co-founder and former CEO of creator-commerce startup Pietra, to play a key role in developing a yet-to-be-named creator-brand platform, per Business Insider.

Trivedi previously worked at Uber before co-founding Pietra and joined Beast Industries alongside a team of other Pietra hires. A Beast Industries spokesperson described the number of hires as “significant” but did not disclose a figure. Pietra has raised $36 million to date from Andreessen Horowitz and other investors and helps creators develop consumer product lines by connecting them with product designers, suppliers, warehouses, and fulfillment companies. The company will continue operating under a new CEO, Prince Ghosh, who joined through an acquisition in 2024, while Trivedi moves into the president role and remains on the board.

Beast Industries also hired Shiva Rajaraman, a veteran of Google and Uber, as Chief Product and Technology Officer, and has opened a product and engineering office in San Mateo, California, to support the creator platform and a planned membership program.

Building a Two-Sided Marketplace

Jeffrey Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, described the initiative at The New York Times DealBook Summit in December as “a two-sided marketplace in a global creator platform, matching creators with Fortune 1,000 marketers who want to be able to access the creator influencer economy in an efficient way to be able to build demand for their products and services.” 

A February 2025 investor deck reviewed by Business Insider described the platform as a tool to help creators replicate Donaldson’s success with “data-driven opportunities” to grow channels and viewership.

Beast Industries already operates Viewstats, a YouTube analytics platform, and Vyro, a clipping service providing brands access to a large creator network. Several employees, including Viewstats COO Nagesh Nagpal, have recently departed from both units. A company spokesperson said those departures were unrelated to the creator platform and that both units will continue to operate as separate businesses.

Market Context

The Interactive Advertising Bureau projected U.S. advertiser spending on creators would reach $43.9 billion in 2026, nearly doubling 2023 levels. As YouTube’s most-subscribed individual creator, with more than 500 million subscribers, Donaldson would be entering a field that already includes ad holding companies, tech platforms, and independent agencies offering similar services to varying degrees. 

In May, Beast Industries hosted an invite-only breakfast for brand and advertising executives in Manhattan, timed to coincide with the annual television upfronts. Beast Industries has hinted at a potential initial public offering.

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