The firms behind the channels

Los Angeles-based media-tech company that licenses YouTube creators’ back catalogs — paying a lump sum in exchange for long-term ad-revenue rights on their existing videos. Channels themselves stay creator-owned. Has deployed over $980M to creators including MrBeast, Dude Perfect, Like Nastya and Colin & Samir. Hit a $1.7B valuation in a 2022 SoftBank-led round. Through 2025–26 it pivoted toward 'Creator TV' — annual Spotter Showcase upfronts, a Comscore measurement partnership and a Stagwell ad partnership — plus co-productions with partners like Kinigra Deon and The Try Guys.

London-based creator-economy investment firm taking majority stakes in long-form, informative YouTube brands. Portfolio includes Veritasium, Fireship, Simple History, Mentour Pilot, Astrum, fern and Simplicissimus. European PE fund Capital D became the first institutional equity investor in September 2023 with an $85M package; Forbes reported in August 2026 that Electrify has raised ~$185M in equity plus a $40M debt facility, with ~$30M revenue in 2025. In June 2026 it took its first minority, non-YouTube-native stake, in AI newsletter The Rundown.

A next-generation media holding company founded in 2021 by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, seeded with roughly $1B from Blackstone. Owns Moonbug Entertainment (Cocomelon, Blippi, Little Baby Bum), controls Hello Sunshine, and produced Fauda via Faraway Road. Restructured through 2024 as streaming spending cooled. In June 2025 Mayer said Candle would operate as a holding company and seek liquidity unit by unit; in February 2026 it sold a majority of ATTN: back to its co-founders, retaining a minority stake.

Berlin-based creator-first media company founded by Lucas Kollmann, a former KKR and Blackstone investor (Forbes 30 Under 30). Acquired MatPat’s Theorist Media (Game/Film/Food Theorists, GTLive) in December 2022 and Madrid’s Sunnyside Up Studios in January 2023.

Data-driven digital entertainment studio founded in 2021 by YouTube strategist Matt Gielen to acquire and scale brand-friendly YouTube channels. Its 2021 acquisition of React Media (the Fine Brothers’ network, incl. the 20M-subscriber REACT channel) was its flagship deal. Acquired by Brat TV in January 2025 and folded into the ZATV roll-up (CEO Rob Fishman), which reportedly raised a further $10M in March 2026. No new channel acquisitions announced under the ZATV banner.

The venture arm of Rhett & Link’s Mythical Entertainment (originally launched in 2021 as the Mythical Creator Accelerator). Makes minority equity investments in creator-owned and -led media businesses. Portfolio includes Jarvis Johnson (2021, the fund’s first deal), Daniel Thrasher (2022) and The Sorry Girls (2023). In December 2024 Mythical led an $82.5M consortium (with Soros Fund Management, Crooked Media and Sean Evans) to buy First We Feast / Hot Ones from BuzzFeed.

Privately held UK media group (Heart, Capital, LBC, DAX) that moved into creator-led video in 2025 via a Global Studios unit. Bought The Fellas Studios outright in October 2025, took majority control of Gary Neville's The Overlap from Miroma in January 2026, and through The Overlap acquired football fan channels The United Stand and That's Football in April 2026.

Digital-media roll-up founded in 2018. Acquired The Drive (first deal), Donut Media (November 2021), Task & Purpose, Popular Science, Outdoor Life, Dwell and BobVila.com among others. Backed by North Equity; closed a $300M growth round. In May 2026 it sold Dwell, Domino, Business of Home and Popular Science to Ziff Davis, narrowing to its core auto (Donut, The Drive) and military (Task & Purpose) video brands.

British digital content agency and media network founded in 2013 as the digital arm of All3Media. Operates factual and documentary YouTube brands including Real Stories, Real Crime, Real Wild and History Hit. All3Media itself was acquired by RedBird IMI in May 2024 and in March 2026 announced an $8B merger with Banijay Entertainment, which cited Little Dot as the combined group's digital engine. Its owned-and-operated network passed 250 channels and 30,000 hours in July 2026, and in June 2026 it launched the official Mister Rogers' Neighborhood channel under a management deal with Fred Rogers Productions.

Newly-formed creator-economy growth fund focused on sports-adjacent digital brands. Led the $45M March 2025 round into Good Good Golf alongside Manhattan West Private Equity, Sunflower Bank and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. Founded by ex-YouTube executive Ben Grubbs and investment manager Brian Kabot. Later deals include a $2.75M round in par-3 golf league Grass League (July 2025), a $20M Series B in Blue Jeans Golf and participation in the Premier Lacrosse League's $100M Series E (June 2026).

Seed-stage VC that closed a dedicated $60M Creator Fund in February 2025, led by Megan Lightcap and Billy Parks. Writes $1–3M checks for ~10% of a creator's holding company, targeting niche high-value verticals over celebrity creators. Deals include Jonathan Katz-Moses (Aug 2025), Steven Bartlett's Steven.com (Oct 2025, $425M valuation) and physio creator Tayla Cannon's Rebuildr (Nov 2025).

Growth investor in community-driven, creator-led media — Barstool Sports, Hello Sunshine, Crunchyroll, Epic Gardening and Audiochuck among others. Took a majority stake in Doug DeMuro's Cars & Bids in January 2023 and became the first outside investor in Gary Lineker's Goalhanger (The Rest Is History) in January 2026.

Media arm of the publicly traded CRM company HubSpot, built on its 2021 acquisition of The Hustle. In 2026 it began buying YouTube-first creator brands outright as an audience and customer-acquisition play: Starter Story (February 2026) and Futurepedia's 17-channel network (April 2026).

Canadian private-equity firm investing from its TMT funds. In April 2023 it made a platform investment in Static Media, the Indianapolis publisher behind YouTube-heavy brands Looper, Mashed, Grunge, Nicki Swift and The List; stake size undisclosed.

Private investment firm focused on early growth and middle-market investments in transformative technology, media and growth-oriented platforms. In April 2024 it provided a nine-figure strategic growth investment to Dude Perfect, reported at between $100M and $300M.

Global growth-stage investment firm (formerly Falcon Edge Capital) investing across internet, consumer and technology sectors. Led the ~$300M Series C into MrBeast’s Beast Industries in 2024 — a venture-capital growth round, with founder Jimmy Donaldson retaining a majority ownership stake.

Digital-first creator-economy platform launched in July 2026 by former Wheelhouse chief strategy officer Ed Simpson, backed by Content Partners (the independent owner of interests in 800+ films and 3,000+ hours of TV). Formed to acquire and scale YouTube-native and creator-led content businesses; its first deal was true-crime channel Dr. Insanity.

Not an investment firm, but a strategic acquirer: in April 2026 OpenAI bought the daily tech talk show TBPN outright for a reported $100M+ — its first media acquisition, reporting to Chris Lehane with a stated editorial-independence commitment.

Family office (~$25B+ AUM) with a growing digital-media book: control of Audacy, stakes in Crooked Media and the December 2024 First We Feast / Hot Ones consortium. In April 2026 it led a growth round into progressive YouTube news network MeidasTouch.

Investment and holding company set up by former Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell and Jason Lublin after Endeavor's take-private. In August 2026 it made the first outside investment in Alex Cooper's Unwell Media (Call Her Daddy) at a $500M pre-money valuation.

Public Ethereum-treasury company chaired by Fundstrat's Tom Lee. Not a media investor by mandate, but in January 2026 it made a $200M equity investment in MrBeast's Beast Industries — one of the largest single checks into a creator-led company.

Marc Lore's food-delivery 'mealtime super app' (owner of Grubhub and Blue Apron), having raised ~$1.6B. In March 2025 it bought food-video network Tastemade for ~$90M to build an owned media arm around its commerce business.

Joint venture between talent agency CAA and VC firm NEA backing consumer and media companies. Led Jomboy Media's $5M round in May 2022 with WWE, Alexis Ohanian and Dwyane Wade; MLB later joined the cap table with a minority stake in June 2025.

Investment arm of the independent marketing group Miroma, often investing media-for-equity. Was the first outside investor in The Overlap in 2021, later its majority shareholder, and exited to Global in January 2026. Earlier backed SB.TV at an £8M valuation (2013).

Belgian family office linked to the Frère family (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert). In May 2026 it bought roughly 25% of Legend, Guillaume Pley's French YouTube interview media, in a €17M secondary transaction valuing the company at €72M.