Sophia Pederson: Co-founder of relay.club

Sophia, what was your background before relay.club?

I was working with my business partner Jim Fields at Relay Video. There, we worked with China’s top tech and internet companies to make their IPO roadshow videos. Making these types of videos allowed us to be in the unique position to work directly with the CEOs, CFOs, CMOs, and other leaders of the companies during a very important time in the company’s history. It also gave us a window into how these major companies in China grew and became successful.

What made you start relay.club?

We decided to start relay.club for two reasons:

Many Chinese customers kept asking us for influencer marketing help in North America and Europe.

My co-founder Jim had just started up his influencer channels on YouTube and Bilibili and we were getting all sorts of messy and disorganized messages from brands to sponsor our videos. We thought there must be a better way! And so, relay.club was born🙂

What’s your vision for relay.club?

Our vision for relay.club is to be the best cross-border influencer marketing platform in the world.

We provide value and real tangible results that move the needle in sales and branding to our customers.

In the future, we will also build up our influencer side of the platform to share more opportunities and bring even greater value to creators.

Influencer marketing has started growing actively 5-6 years ago and many platforms entered the market since then offering similar services. What sets relay.club apart?

The global influencer marketing industry is growing year on year at a rate of 33% and is expected to reach a value of USD $143 billion by 2030. At the same time, China is supporting cross-border e-commerce companies, with even local governments in places like Zhejiang province having developed “Cross-border E-Commerce Experimental Zones”. 

Being American founders who deeply understand and have successfully worked with cross-border Chinese companies, relay.club has an unfair advantage to provide value to companies. Our advantage isn’t limited to China, but across emerging markets like India and SE Asia - that want to do cross-border business and to influencers wanting to work with these companies.

How do you see relay.club growing over the years?

relay.club will always be a customer and influencer first platform and so our growth will be fueled from insights we get and metrics we measure from these two groups.

Any talents or interests you would like to share?

Although I’m not strict about it, I’ve been trying to eat more plant-based/vegan. My favourite YouTube channel for recipes and everyday meals is Rainbow Plant Life I never knew a salad could be so tasty!!

I’m also a pretty shy person. I much prefer to be behind the camera and keeping everything running smoothly and organized🙂

Why should anybody join the club?

For influencers - relay.club offers to broaden your existing sponsorship pool by bringing in companies from different regions to pay you for the content you create.

For customers - relay.club understands your needs and we offer a solution to help manage your influencer outreach campaigns.

For investors - relay.club is growing fast and is going to take off like a rocket ship this year! Come on aboard while there’s still a chance! (am I allowed to say that? haha)