Here Are the First Recipients of Grants From the TikTok Creator Fund

TikTok U.S. general manager Vanessa Pappas said in a blog post Monday that over the next three years, the fund will support thousands of creators and grow to $1 billion in the U.S. and more than double that figure worldwide.

She wrote, “Each of these creators has shown what it means to be your authentic self, bring joy and inspiration to people and creatively connect with an audience. TikTok would not be the vibrant community that it is today without creators like these, some of whom have only been on the platform a few months and others who have been with us from the beginning. From redefining a category to venturing into uncharted waters, these creators are a huge part of TikTok, and we’re grateful for their ingenuity and creative spirit.”

Creators 18 and older who have at least 10,000 followers, have tallied at least 10,000 video views in the past 30 days and conform with the video-creation platform’s community guidelines will be able to apply directly via the TikTok application starting in mid-August.

The first recipients, with details from Pappas’ blog post, are:

• @lgndfrvr: Justice Alexander has a passion for entertaining those around him and putting smiles on their faces with his comedic and family-friendly approach. Better known as LGND, he is based in Los Angeles and is known as one of the top Latino creators on the platform.
• @doctor.jesss: Jess Andrade is a pediatric resident who wants to make healthcare and health-related information accessible to all. Many of her videos show a day in the life of her as a doctor or give helpful information about hot topics in healthcare.
• @onlyjayus: Isabella Avila recently graduated with a degree in computer science and math and moved to Los Angeles to take her creator career to the next level and pursue it as a full time job. Her videos surrounding facts and psychology erupted on the platform, and she was one of the inaugural 2020 LGBTQI+ TikTok Trailblazers.
• @acooknamedmatt: Matt Broussard is a Seattle Zagat 30 under 30-awarded chef who shares his passion for cooking through his video creation and pop up dinners. Matt educates people on how to make his favorite recipes, in addition to showing off his impressive knife-cutting skills.
• @daviddobrik: David Dobrik is a digital entertainment personality known for his high-energy videos consisting of pranks, cute animals and fun with friends. His humorous and entertaining content has amassed more than 20 million followers.
• @lifeofadoctor: Dr. Fayez, a healthcare professional, has quickly gained over 500,000 followers since starting his TikTok journey in the fall of 2019. Many of his videos depict him myth-busting common misconceptions within healthcare or giving his audience a glimpse on his everyday life as a doctor.
• @avani: Avani Gregg, passionate about beauty and makeup, has built a following of nearly 24 million followers who love her makeup tutorials. Avani brings characters she’s sketched in books to life, using colorful palettes and unusual techniques. As she continues to build a career as a creator, she is also exploring her interests in fashion, dancing and acting.
• @mattgresia: Matt Gresia is an entrepreneur and business guru. He uses topics that followers would find relatable for his entertaining “Did You Know” and informational videos.
• @feelgoodfoodie: Yumna Jawad joined TikTok by word-of-mouth from her close-knit food community. She believes food shouldn’t only taste good, it should make you feel good. Yumna food vlogs on TikTok.
• @dreadknotwoodshop: Darryl Jones is a woodturner from Deltona, Fla., and the founder of Dread Knot Woodshop. He teaches classes in-person and online and appears at trade shows. Show cancellations due to the pandemic have heavily affected his business. The silver lining has been being able to continue to bring his work to people through TikTok.
• @spencerx: Spencer Polanco Knight is a Beatbox artist from Manhattan whose growth on TikTok over the past year has been explosive, receiving support from almost 40 million followers. Spencer is particularly passionate about spreading awareness of beatboxing as a mainstream music medium.
• @justmaiko: Originally a dancer and now a full -time creator, Michael Le is widely known in the TikTok community for starting trends and creating memorable choreography. He recently hit 35 million followers and is continuing to grow with his fun and exciting dance content.
• @heyeliza: Chance Moore and Kate Hudson are parents to Eliza, an amazing and beautiful 10-month-old girl battling cancer. Chance and Kate share videos about their lives as a family dealing with a very tough situation. Their videos of family positivity and optimism have amassed nearly 3 million followers.
• @marstruck: As a proud Asian American, Marissa Ren uses her platform to educate viewers about Asian influences on global fashion, while also sharing videos about her current favorite fashion trends.
• @rosssmith: Ross Smith is a veteran digital entertainment personality from Westerville, Ohio, known for his hilarious videos filmed with his Granny. The iconic duo never fails to entertain their loyal follower base with original skits and comical pranks. Ross has been an active creator on TikTok for several years and is continuing to grow every day.
• @alex.stemp: Alex Stemplewski is a Los Angeles photographer best known for his impromptu public photoshoots. Many of his videos depict him approaching a stranger in public and offering to photograph their portraits in unique ways, which he shares with them and in his videos.
• @brittany_broski: Brittany Tomlinson is an iconic example of a TikTok creator success story. Initially known as “Kombucha Girl” for the viral video of her trying kombucha for the first time, Brittany has grown her platform on TikTok to 5 million loyal followers over the course of the past year.
• @cheyennejazwise: Cheyenne Jaz Wise, a cosplay creator from Las Vegas, is currently on furlough, due to Covid-19, from one of her seamstress jobs and children’s theater program. She has turned to TikTok to share her passion for sewing creative costumes.
• @tonyyounmd: Dr. Anthony Youn is a board-certified plastic surgeon known as “America’s Holistic Plastic Surgeon.” Tony uses his TikTok presence to educate people about holistic beauty and empowers them to look and feel the best version of themselves.