Birdelo 2.0: A "New" PR-Tech Platform That’s Actually Been 15 Years in the Making

While PR-tech startups are having their moment, Birdelo is reminding the industry it got there first.

Originally launched in 2008 under a different name, the platform now known as Birdelo quietly solved a problem that has only recently become trendy: how to make brand-to-media collaboration more seamless. Now, with its AI-enhanced relaunch as Birdelo 2.0, co-founders Nikki Carlson and Kailynn Bowling are drawing attention to the system’s early roots—and why that matters in today’s fragmented media landscape.

“We built the original version in 2008 because we were living the pain points ourselves,” said Carlson. “We didn’t see a solution in the market—so we built one.”

Back then, Carlson and Bowling were wearing multiple hats—running ChicBlvd Magazine, launching the consumer tech brand ChicBuds, and scaling their PR firm ChicExecs. The problem? No centralized tool existed for sharing brand assets, samples, and pitches with journalists. The duo built one internally and quietly used it to power their firm for over a decade.

Fast forward to 2024, and PR-tech has become a buzzword. Yet Birdelo 2.0 isn’t just jumping on the AI bandwagon—it’s built on battle-tested infrastructure, now supercharged with automation and smarter matchmaking.

What’s New in Birdelo 2.0?

The platform now connects nearly 100,000 brands with major media outlets through a simplified interface designed to serve journalists and PR teams alike. Editors can access story ideas, affiliate-ready product links, hi-res imagery, and samples all in one place—without the usual back-and-forth emails.

Media outlets already leveraging the system include CNN, The Today Show, InStyle, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, GQ, and E! News—a testament to Birdelo’s quiet relevance over the years.

This isn’t a beta-stage product with bugs to iron out. It’s a refined system with over a decade of iteration behind it. The proof? A 2011 video demo of the original platform (then called the ChicExecs Media Networking System) and an 8-year-old YouTube case study showing the tool in action with Madison Media.

Birdelo’s timing couldn’t be better. As the lines blur between editorial and branded content, and journalists grow more selective in the pitches they accept, having a unified system to facilitate authentic, streamlined collaboration is invaluable.

But Birdelo isn’t chasing the hype. “This isn’t a new concept,” Bowling emphasized. “It’s a reimagining of something that’s already worked—for years.”

The startup narrative often favors flash over function. But Birdelo’s story flips the script: function first, flash later. And with AI now part of its DNA, Birdelo 2.0 is positioned to scale its quiet advantage into something far louder in today’s noisy PR-tech race.

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