Some buyers have began distancing themselves from Dispo, a fast-growing photo-sharing app, after its co-founder, the YouTube creator David Dobrik, turned embroiled in controversy.

Dispo, which launched in 2019, is a photo-based social platform much like Instagram that mimics the expertise of utilizing a disposable digital camera. Photos taken by way of the Dispo app take 24 hours to “develop” and seem on a consumer’s feed.

In October, Dispo raised $four million in a funding spherical led by Seven Seven Six, the agency of Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder. In February, the firm garnered a further $20 million in a financing led by Spark Capital; the funding valued Dispo at $200 million.

But in an investigation by Insider that printed final week, Mr. Dobrik was accused of taking part in a job in a sexual assault scandal involving a former member of his “Vlog Squad.” He later informed The Information that he would depart Dispo and step down from its board. And a few of Dispo’s buyers have additionally began backing away.

On Sunday, Spark Capital stated it might “sever all ties” with Dispo. “We have stepped down from our position on the board, and we are in the process of making arrangements to ensure we do not profit from our recent investment in Dispo,” the enterprise agency posted on Twitter.

On Monday, Mr. Ohanian and Seven Seven Six additionally issued a press release calling the accusations in opposition to Mr. Dobrik “extremely troubling” and “directly at odds with Seven Seven Six’s core values.” Mr. Ohanian posted to Instagram that he and Seven Seven Six supported Mr. Dobrik’s option to step down from the firm.

Seven Seven Six additionally stated on Twitter that it might donate any income from its funding “to an organization working with survivors of sexual assault.”

Unshackled Ventures, one other early investor in Dispo, stated on Monday that it might additionally donate any income from its funding to organizations centered on survivors of sexual assault, together with Maitri, which is concentrated on serving to South Asian survivors of home violence.

“We are a female majority team that does not take this lightly. We are in full support of their decision to part ways with David,” Unshackled Ventures stated in a press release.

Dispo and Mr. Dobrik didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Over the previous yr, many buyers have become enamored with the influencer world. “I feel like something has palpably shifted in the past year among investors, and it seems like everyone is talking about the creator economy now and investing in creator tools,” Li Jin, founding father of Atelier, a enterprise agency investing in the creator area informed The New York Times in December.

But a number of common YouTube stars have come below fireplace over the previous yr for scandals involving racism and sexual assault.

Mr. Dobrik is one in every of YouTube’s hottest creators, with greater than 18.7 million subscribers on his main channel. After gaining fame on Vine, the short-video app, he and a gaggle of buddies known as the “Vlog Squad” started creating brief, comedic content material typically involving stunts for websites resembling YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.