Bengaluru: India’s influencer marketing industry has been riding a wave of growth. From Instagram reels to YouTube vlogs, brands now spend billions to reach consumers through creators instead of traditional ads. By 2026, the sector is expected to be worth over INR 3,000 crore.
But beneath the surface lies an uncomfortable truth: creators are often underpaid, brands overspend without clarity, and agencies operate in the shadows with little accountability.
This week, RosterGrid, a startup building tools for creators and agencies, has decided to tackle the problem head-on. It has launched the RosterGrid Agency Directory – India’s first public, review-driven platform where creators, brands, and even agency employees can finally see which influencer marketing (IM) agencies are reliable, and which ones aren’t.
To mark the launch, RosterGrid unveiled the “50 Gold List of Influencer Marketing Agencies for 2025”, a roll call of agencies that, for better or worse, shape the country’s creator economy.
The Problem No One Wants to Talk About
On paper, influencer marketing looks like a gold rush. Campaigns with beauty bloggers, gamers, comedians, and finance creators reach millions overnight. But creators whisper about the same issues, over and over:
- Delayed or missing payments. Some wait months for campaign fees. Others never see them at all.
- Opaque deal flow. Large agencies pass briefs down to smaller agencies, who pass them further down, each one taking a cut. By the time a creator sees the budget, the original amount has shrunk beyond recognition.
- Lack of transparency. There’s no central way to compare agencies on performance, credibility, or communication. Word of mouth is all that creators have.
The result? Many creators feel exploited. Brands, meanwhile, often don’t know if they’re paying for actual results or just hype.
“Creators are the backbone of this economy, yet they’re the ones getting screwed,” says Rahul Moudgil, Founder of RosterGrid. “The industry can’t scale on WhatsApp chats and handshake deals. Someone had to build a platform that keeps agencies honest.”
The RosterGrid Agency Directory
The newly launched RosterGrid Agency Directory functions like a Glassdoor for influencer marketing. Each agency has a public profile where:
- Creators, brands, and employees can leave verified reviews.
- Agencies are compared on real-world criteria like payment timelines, communication quality, campaign execution, and reliability.
- Credible firms get recognition, while shady practices are exposed in daylight.
For creators, it’s a safeguard against getting trapped in endless back-and-forth over unpaid invoices. For brands, it’s a filter to choose the right partners. For agencies, it’s a chance to prove they’re among the good ones.
The 50 Gold List of 2025
To kick things off, RosterGrid curated the 50 Gold List of 2025 – a recognition of the agencies currently shaping India’s IM landscape. Some are boutique outfits making waves in niche markets; others are heavyweight players running national campaigns.
Here’s the full list:
1.Chtrbox
2.One Impression
3.Grynow Media
4.Influencer.in (Social Beat)
5.Good Creator Co. (Plixxo + POPxo)
6.WhizCo
7.Pulpkey
8.Sociowash
9.Eleve Media
10.Voxxy
11.OpraahFx
12.Mad Influence
13.Markenza
14.Mashup Studios
15.Memedia
16.Winit Media
17.B.I.G Media Communications
18.Spottlightt Social
19.Gen C Media
20.FameBit Media
21.Madify
22.Buzzin Media
23.CREATE (Create.wtf)
24.Infomance
25.Celeb Central
26.3Folks Media
27.Creators Cube
- Confluencr
28.SocialTAG Media LLP
29.WLDD Private Limited
30.Digital WoM Services
31.CreatorsMela
32.Illuminati Media
33.Odd Planet
34.Third Eye Blind Productions
35.Partum Design Studio
36.KrazyFox
37.Creatornity
38.Aflog
39.Creators Gram
40.Krishna Digital World
41.Tring
42.BlueJelly Media
43.Celebistaan
44.Brandnfluence Digital Marketing
45.Growdize Media
46.KINIMO Digital
47.PRable Global Pvt Ltd
48.Spinfluence Marketing
49.Social DNA
50.InfluGlue
A Line in the Sand
The Gold List isn’t just an award. It’s a signal that India’s creator economy is maturing. For the first time, there’s a public scoreboard for agencies.
The directory also invites ongoing reviews, which means the story doesn’t end here. An agency that makes the Gold List today could slip tomorrow if creators and brands report poor practices. Conversely, up-and-coming firms can rise if they consistently deliver.
“Transparency is a win-win,” says Moudgil. “Agencies doing good work finally get recognition. Creators gain confidence. And brands can stop burning money on black-box campaigns.”
The Bigger Picture
Why does this matter so much? Because the stakes are enormous. India has one of the youngest internet populations in the world. Over 900 million people are expected to be online by 2025, and social media platforms are where they spend their time.
That makes creators — from regional food vloggers to Bollywood celebrities — powerful marketing engines. If the ecosystem stays opaque, growth will be stunted. If it becomes transparent, the pie expands for everyone.
The Agency Directory is RosterGrid’s bet that transparency will unlock the next phase of the industry.
What’s Next
With the launch, RosterGrid isn’t just celebrating agencies — it’s throwing down a challenge. Agencies that delay payments, over-promise, or under-deliver will be called out in public. The days of operating in the dark are numbered.
For creators, the message is simple: you finally have a tool to know who you’re dealing with before signing the dotted line.
And for brands? The directory offers a filter to separate reliable partners from those who simply ride the hype.
Explore the full directory here:https://rostergrid.com/top-influencer-agencies-india
Visit India’s fastest growing Influencer Marketing Startup; Roster Grid