Scottsdale content creation startup Terkel rebrands to Featured
Terkel, a Scottsdale-based company that connects publishers with subject matter experts to create question-and-answer content, has changed its name.
The company recently rebranded as Featured to better communicate the company’s value proposition to its customers, said Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured.
“For us, being that we service publishers like Fast Company and we often have to have to go to them and say, ‘Hey, do you want to work with us?’, the value proposition of working with Featured.com versus Terkel.io was much stronger,” Farmiloe said. “And it was just a much clearer way for someone to understand what it is that we do. So that is some of the main motivation for it.”
Farmiloe launched Featured — then known as Terkel — in 2022 after incorporating the company a year earlier. The company created a two-sided online marketplace that helps publishers connect with vetted experts.
“A publisher is able to post a question and get a full-length article for their website, so that they could drive incremental revenue through ads or commerce content,’ Farmiloe said. “Then, marketers are able to answer a question and get it featured in articles on the publisher’s website. That helps them build up visibility, promote themselves and their brands, and really get their name out there.”
Featured selects the best answers and articles by looking at existing search results online, determining commonalities among that content and then examining new knowledge on specific subjects.
“The writing of article is 10% generative in terms of the introduction and the rest of the article is answers from marketers and experts, who are sharing their perspective,” Farmiloe said. “We’ll then select the best answers to a question and convert it into an article, deliver it back to the publisher and they’ll publish it to their website. We’ll notify (experts) they’ve been featured, so they can share it on social media to demonstrate their thought leadership.”
Customers include GoDaddy, Amex and Fast Company
Featured works with more than 500 publishers and companies, some of which include GoDaddy, American Express, Fast Company and the University of Arizona. It has more than 15,000 marketers and experts signed up to answer questions on its platform, Farmiloe said.
Last year, Featured raised $1 million in a seed funding round with investments from Stout Street, Sonoran Founders Fund and Calm Company Fund. It was also among 16 companies that competed in the software-as-a-service category at Venture Madness 2022, the state’s longest running pitch competition.
Featured is currently participating in the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Venture Ready Accelerator program, which helps startups commercialize their technologies, scale go-to-market strategies and prepare for their next round of investment.
“The Venture Ready Accelerator program has exceeded expectations, and we’re enjoying the process,” Farmiloe said.
Featured has eight employees and may consider raising more capital in the future to continue its robust growth, he said.
“For us, it’s all about improving the world’s access to information. Most people believe that search engines have all the answers, but the reality is that a very limited amount of our knowledge is online,” Farmiloe said. “We believe that by bringing more knowledge online, we’re going to improve the information that people can access.”