IZEA Signs Top 50 U.S. Retailer

IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: IZEA), operator of IZEAx® and TapInfluence marketplaces, today announced the signing of a brand-direct relationship with a top 50 U.S. retailer. After the successful completion of a pilot program, the retailer is now licensing the company’s technology to manage its influencer marketing initiatives.

"We are very excited by the progress that our SaaS business development team is making. We continue to build our relationships with both brands and agencies which license IZEA technologies to discover, organize, and transact with social media influencers,” commented Ted Murphy, Founder and CEO of IZEA. "With the recent acquisition of TapInfluence and signing of new IZEAx customers, both monthly SaaS license fees and marketplace spend have increased significantly. Gross marketplace billings generated from customers using our influencer marketing platforms in a self-serve capacity have increased from approximately $45k in all of Q2 2018, to $1.5 million in August alone.”

In addition to this new brand-direct relationship, IZEA has seen strong license renewals with several top marketplace spenders in both SaaS platforms. IZEAx, specifically, has seen SaaS license fees billed year to date (through the end of August) already totaling more than double the entirety of what was billed in 2017.

IZEA anticipates total bookings for all lines of business in Q3 to exceed $9.5 million, which would be the largest bookings quarter in the history of the company. Total bookings is a measure of all sales orders, plus total platform spend by self-service customers, minus any cancellations or refunds. Management uses bookings as an indicator of total sales activity. Based on preliminary unaudited information, net revenue is expected to be approximately $5.0-5.25 million for Q3, and is expected to increase sequentially in Q4 2018 and Q1 2019, following the strong bookings expected for Q3.

About IZEA Worldwide, Inc.

IZEA Worldwide, Inc. ("IZEA”) operates online platforms that connect marketers with content creators. IZEA platforms automates influencer marketing and custom content development, allowing brands and agencies to scale their marketing programs. IZEA influencers include everyday creators as well as celebrities and accredited journalists. Creators are compensated for producing unique content such as long and short form text, videos, photos, status updates, and illustrations for marketers or distributing such content on behalf of marketers through their personal websites, blogs, and social media channels. Marketers receive influential content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness. For more information about IZEA, visit https://izea.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements, and terms such as "anticipate,” "expect,” "intend,” "believe,” "may,” "will,” "should,” or other comparable terms, are based largely on IZEA's expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond IZEA's control. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, changing economic conditions. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information contained in this release will in fact occur.

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