Spill is allowing its users to have a stake in its success.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the social media app was created by Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell and DeVaris Brown who had both worked for Twitter. In 2022, Terrell was laid off around the time Elon Musk had acquired the platform now known as X, while Brown had exited the company in 2020. Terrell says the focus in Spill’s creation was to support his colleagues and to answer a personal call, which was branching out to build a new platform.
“Starting as a non-technical founder, that was a pretty daunting challenge. And I think it was that mindset of just determination that no matter what, I’m going to figure out a way to make something,” Terrell shared on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. “If I don’t raise a dollar, if I got to do whatever, everything starts, I think, from that particular mindset, and that is what’s magnetized.”
He continued, “I think the type of energy that we’ve been able to build around Spill, from my co-founder to building really great relationships with some of our early investors — it really starts with that courage. We can’t wait for other people to tell us it’s time or to give us permission. We got to take it. And especially now in these environments, that’s the mindset that I think is the only way we’re going to move forward.”
Just three months after Terrell was laid off, Spill secured nearly $2.75 million in pre-seed funding in February 2023. The round was led by MaC Venture Capital and the Kapor Center, with participation from Sunset Ventures, fueling the platform’s official launch in summer 2023.
Spill allows users to share their thoughts combined with images, videos, GIFs, and more. They can also participate in online gaming in real time with their online community. This feature has led to average time on the Spades game being more than 31 minutes, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. Additionally, users can host tea parties, which are live sessions via audio or video, or create online groups aligned with their interests. Within Spill’s first week of integrating groups, thousands of groups were created.
The platform also leverages blockchain technology to automatically reward users with financial compensation when their posts go viral, enabling faster payouts to its community.
“People are going to look for places where they can not only create and curate these sub communities but then start to monetize them over time as well,” Terrell explained. “I think that in a world where AI slop is going to take over a lot of these bigger platforms where people are just content farming constantly to try and get engagement, it’s going to put a premium on actual human interaction. I think it’s going to be like, ‘Wow, are there real people here? Can I actually make a real connection?’…We feel like Spill’s going to be an incredible tool for that in the future and going to make that a lot easier to find vs. other platforms.”
Spill’s structure, which also includes the hiring of a diverse team of developers responsible for Spill’s artificial intelligence (AI), has been successful. In 2025, Spill is projected to reach $1 million in annualized revenue and saw a more than 285% increase in user signups in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“We’re building Spill to be more than just a successful business model,” mentioned Kenya Parham, Spill’s VP of community and partnerships who was promoted to chief growth officer in January 2025. “We are showing that platforms thrive when they center culture-driving communities — namely Black communities, brown communities, queer communities who have historically made all of these other platforms pop but have never had the tech built for them. We’re showing that that makes not just sense from a values perspective, but it also makes business sense. We’ve been experiencing a massive wave of growth Q3 and Q4 alone of last year, 2024. We experienced over 280% growth in signups, and we’re also making money on Spill. We are set to cross a million dollars in annualized revenue this year.”
She added, “From an advertiser perspective, we’ve had ads and paid partnerships since day one on Spill. Every single partner who has stepped up to the plate to run a pilot with us has RFP’d us again. And we’ve got folks who are building with us behind this model. And that’s been incredibly validating, not just on the community side but also on the business side.”
Crowdfunding
Moreover, Spill is inviting its users to join in its success. They now have the option to participate in a crowdfunding round to secure equity in the social media platform, which has already secured a total of more than $5 million in pre-seed through investors like Kerry Washington, as of October 2024.
“People can now invest in spill with as little as $250 and participate in that success, not just from using the platform but also as we continue to grow and win,” Terrell expressed. “You guys get to not just have the conversation or join the conversation but own it too. And we think that’s really exciting.”
To watch more from the “Black Tech Green Money” interview, click here.
