In April, influencer marketing agency Whalar announced it was hiring for 85 new positions. If co-founder Neil Waller could attribute this lightning growth to one industry force, it would be TikTok.

“It’s been a crazy year to say the least, but that’s a sign of the category,” he said. “TikTok is engaging with the creator economy in a way that no other platform has ever done before.”

TikTok has developed a new creator marketplace API (application programming interface) that allows influencers to tap into first-party data and find new work while taking some of their power back. It also invites brands to pay their partners directly through the platform and use live, in-app metrics to find the right creators for their campaigns.