Hummingbirds, an online platform that connects businesses with hyper-local content creators, announced it has raised more than $1 million in funding. The fundraising round was led by Chicago-based venture capital firm M25 with participation by Next Level Ventures, InnoVenture Iowa, ISA Ventures, Mango Seed Investments, and angel investors. “This pitch got my heart rate up, not only is there a large, ripe-for-disruption market that Hummingbirds co-founders Emily Steele (right in photo) and Charise Flynn (left in photo) have built the perfect product for, they’ve created a team with exactly what we look for,” M25 CEO Victor Gutwein said in a news release. According to the release, Hummingbirds exclusively focuses on building a community of local content creators who have influence and can drive behavior of their peers. “Our mission is to help local communities thrive by connecting businesses and organizations with a people-powered marketing solution that drives relevancy and revenue, keeps dollars inside communities, builds long-term business success and creates meaning and purpose for content creators and social media enthusiasts,” Steele, the CEO of Hummingbirds, said in the release. Flynn, the chief operating officer, said the new funding would be used to “bring on critical sales hires, increase the platform’s functionality, and build out marketing agency partnerships.”