List Of Top 100 Creator Economy Investors
In 2023, the creator economy is facing a new set of challenges. While 2021 saw a massive investment of $3.7 billion in creator-oriented startups in the US, 2023 presented a more cautious approach from investors. Brands reduced their marketing budgets, leading to a decline in the funding of creator platforms. Q4 of 2022 marked the sixth sequential drop in quarterly funding, totaling only $274 million, a stark contrast to the consistent ~$500 million quarterly investments since Q1 2021.
So naturally, the first question that comes to mind — is the creator economy dying?
The short answer: no.
The creator economy, valued at a whopping $250 billion, is evolving. Even though funding had dropped, there were still some major investments that happened:
Karat Financial – $40 million Series B equity round, led by SignalFire; $30 million in debt financing from TriplePoint Capital.
KOMI – $12 million funding, led by RTP and Third Prime, with participation from Sony Music and Live Nation.
DICE – $65 million funding round led by MUSIC, with participation from Structural Capital, Ahdritz Holding LLC, Exor Ventures, and Mirabaud Lifestyle Fund.
Lex – $5.6 million seed funding round led by Stellation Capital, with participation from Slauson & Co., Hope Lab Ventures, Best Nights VC, Great Oaks, Graph Ventures, and others.
Runway – $141 million extension to their Series C, with participation from Google, NVIDIA, Salesforce Ventures, and other existing investors..
Story Protocol – $54 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Samsung Next, Hashed, Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media, and others.
FirstMate: $3.75 million in funding led by Dragonfly Capital, a tool for NFT creators.
BandLab: $25 million Series B1, led by Cercano Management
Pocket FM – $16 million debt funding from US-based Silicon Valley Bank.
TalkShopLive – $7 million additional funding at an $81 million valuation, from investors including Spero Ventures and Progress Partners.
Early signs in 2023 indicate a potential recovery in funding. A stable global economy and growing investor confidence are positive indicators.
This article will cover a few of the top creator economy investors and VCs.
SignalFire
SignalFire is an investment firm founded in 2013 that focuses on supporting companies between seed and Series B stages of funding.
The firm is a big investor in Clubhouse, a social audio app. The principal of Clubhouse, Josh Constine is an influencer himself with more than 4 million followers.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Clubhouse
- Karat
- RedCircle
- Superdao
- Coachhub
SignalFire funds:
- Signalfire Breakout Fund II ($300M)
- Signalfire Fund III ($200M)
- SIGNALFIRE AFFILIATES FUND III
- SIGNALFIRE AFFILIATES BERAKOUT FUND II ($300M)
- SIGNALFIRE FUND II ($101.6M)
- Seed Fund ($53M)
SignalFire Team:
- Chris Farmer (Founder and CEO)
- Wayne Hu (Head of Seed-stage Investments)
- Yuanling Yuan (VP)
- Josh Constine (Principal and Head of Content)
- Alex Garden (venture partner)
- Oana Olteanu (partner)
- Yuriy Groysman ( partner)
- Wayne Hu (partner)
UTA Ventures
UTA Ventures is led by Sam Wich who has worked in the influencer space for over a decade. UTA Ventures is a division of United Talent Agency that supports business in various divisions of the agency.
Some of these businesses were developed for influencer clients like Blippi, Charlie and Dixie D’Amelio, Rhett and Link, Smosh, The Try Guys, Alisha Marie, Remi Cruz, and others.
UTA Ventures also partnered with YouTuber Emma Chamberlain (9 million subscribers) for her coffee product, Chamberlain Coffee.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Ramble
- Cloud9
- Pocket.Watch
- Masterclass
- Jumprope
- Frolic
- Patreon
- Rembrand
- FitOn
UTA Ventures team:
- Caroline Jabocs (partner)
- Clinton Foy (general partner)
- Jeremy Zimmer (CEO and board member)
- Courtney McHugh (venture partner)
- Ceci Kurzman (board of directors)
- Jeumana Jaber (executive)
- Sam Wick (partner and head of UTA)
Inspired Capital
Inspired Capital is a $500M early-stage technology venture fund focused on supporting consumer and enterprise tech companies.
Through their early-stage fund, they invested in startups like Creative Juice. The fund also supported the pre-seed round of Geneva, a social media startup company that has raised $22m from investors like Li Jin and Coatue.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Finix
- Creative Juice
- Splice
- Geneva
Inspired Capital funds raised:
- Inspired Capital Partners II ($281M)
- Inspired Capital Partners I ($200M)
Inspired Capital team:
- Lucy Deland
- Kamran Ali
- Charlotte Ross
- Alexa von Tobel
- Mark Batsiyan
- Annie Shapiro
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz is one of the most active VC firms in the creator economy, with investments ranging from Seed to Series D. The firm most recently funded NFT company Autograph and streaming distribution service Filmhub.
The company also funds early-stage startups like Pietra, a startup company that is helping creators create their own products.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Clubhouse
- Substack
- Pietra
- Rally
- Maven
- Roblox
- Spring
Andreessen Horowitz’s recently announced funds include a $1.5B Bio fund, $5B Growth fund, and $2.5B Venture fund, coupled with the $2.2B Crypto Fund and $400M Seed Fund raised in 2021.
Andreessen Horowitz team and investors:
- Marc Andreessen (co-founder and general partner)
- Andrew Chen (general partner)
- Connie Chan (general partner)
Acrew Capital
Acrew Capital is an early-stage VC founded in 2019. John Smothers has been supporting companies in the creator economy like Buy Me a Coffee and Creative Juice.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Buy me a Coffee
- Creative Juice
- Afterparty
- Rosebud.ai
- Motif.land
- Homebase.io
- Superpeer
- Discord
Acrew Capital Funds:
- Acrew Capital II ($380)
- Acrew Diversify Capital Fund ($300M)
- Acrew Capital Fund I ($250M)
Acrew Capital team:
- Theresia Gouw (founding partner)
- Vishal Lugani (founding partner)
- Mark Kraynak (founding partner)
- Asad Khaliq (founding partner)
- Lauren Kolodny (founding partner)
- Sukhinder Singh (founding venture partner)
- Kim Jabal (limited partner)
Seven Seven Six
Seven Seven Six is an investment firm founded by the co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian. The firm has made some big moves and invested in seed-stage startups in the creator economy:
- Pearpop
- Metafy
- Clash
- Zestworld
- Riverside.fm
- July
- Dispo
Seven Seven Six funds:
- Seven Seven Six Fund 2 ($100M)
- Seven Seven Six Fund 1 ($150M)
Seven Seven Six team:
- Alexis Ohanian (founder and general partner)
- Katelin Holloway (founding partner)
- Elisabeth Garvin (founding chief of staff)
- Cristina Apple Georgoulaki (operating partner)
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a VC firm that focuses on early-stage investments in the enterprise tech and consumer space. It was founded in 2000 and has $10.5 billion within 400 active investments with its affiliates.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Cameo
- Nas Academy
- Snap
- Audius
- Autograph
- Trendsi
- Beek
- Fan Controlled Football
- Dukaan
Lightspeed Venture Partners has raised a total of $12.3B across 24 funds.
Lightspeed Ventures team and investors:
- Amy Wu (investor)
- Anoushka Vaswani (partner)
- Antoine Moyroud (partner)
- Anuvrat Jain (growth investor)
- Connor Love (partner)
The Chernin Group
The Chernin Group is a multi-stage investment firm focused on consumer businesses. It is run by Peter Chernin, Jesse Jacobs, and Mike Kerns and the group has invested in social media-focused companies as well as esports, gaming, and health companies.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Cameo
- Rooster Teeth
- Fullscreen
The Chernin Group team:
- Brett Baker (actor)
- Maureen Sullivan (partner)
- Mike Kerns (partner)
- Marco DeMeireles (partner)
- Michaela Venuti (vice president)
- Samuel Minkin (investor)
Next 10 Ventures
Founded in 2018 by Benjamin Grubbs, Next 10 Ventures supports seed-stage startups in the creator economy.
Next 10 Ventures has backed more than a handful of startups at the pre-seed and seed stage, with 70% of the portfolio having closed up rounds, 40% having closed series A rounds and 15% having been acquired in 2022
Investments in the creator economy:
- SuperBam
- Podcorn
- Influence.co
- Stir
- Kollyde
- Koji
Next 10 Ventures Funds:
- Fund I ($50M)
Next 10 Ventures team:
- Benjamin Grubbs (founder and CEO)
- Adam Lurie (Venture Advisor)
- Cynthia So Schroeder (Venture Advisor)
- Jeremy Hall-Smith (CFO & Venture Advisor)
Index Ventures
Index Ventures is a VC investment firm that has been around since 1996, and has $6.83 billion in assets under management.
The principal of Index Ventures – Rex Woodbury is also an influencer with almost 230k Instagram followers and has a newsletter about internet culture. Being one himself, he understands the struggles of creators and influencers in the economy very well.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Gather
- Fanbase
- Discord
- Patreon
- Dubsmash
- Creative Juice
- Sanlo
Some Index Ventures Investors:
- Danny Rimer
- Rex Woodbury
- Mark Goldberg
- Shardul Shah
- Molly Alter
- Katharina Wilhelm
MaC Venture Capital
MaC is a VC firm that prioritizes seed-stage companies in tech and media. The company was founded in 2019 and is a merger across M ventures and Nichol’s Cross Culture Capital.
Co-founder Marlon Nichols was an investment director at Intel Capital before he cofounded MaC Venture Capital. Nichols’s early investments include Gimlet Media, a podcast company that was bought by Spotify in 2019, and PlayVS, a startup that organizes esports events and tournaments for high schoolers and college students.
Investments in the creator economy:
- PlayVs
- Brud
- Brat TV
- Faze Clan
- Genies
- Locker Room
MaC funds:
- MaC Venture Capital Seed Fund I ($103M)
- MaC Entertainment Tech Fund
- MaC VC 2019
- M Ventures Fund II
- M Ventures Fund I
- Cross Culture Ventures I ($13.7M)
MaC team:
- Marlon Nichols (co-founder and managing partner)
- Charles King (co-founder and special general partner)
- Haley Farnsworth (partner)
- Danny Brown (partner)
- Moni Adina (general partner)
- Micheal Palank (general partner)
BBG Ventures
BBG Ventures is a VC firm that focuses on making early-stage investments in companies that have at least one female founder.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Mighty Networks
- Trash
- Squad
- Swaypay
BBG Ventures funds:
- BBG Ventures III ($50M)
- BBG Fund ($10M)
BBG Ventures Team:
- Susan Lyne (general partner and co-founder)
- Nisha Dua (general partner and co-founder)
- Claire Biernacki (principal)
- Jillian Damaris (venture fellow)
Slow Ventures
Slow Ventures was started in 2009 by a Facebook employee Dave Morin and was originally supported by five Facebook alumni.
The firm has made over 300 seed-stage investments in startups in the creator economy. Now the firm is also experimenting with investing in the creators themselves.
The firm has been heavily investing in NFT startups recently, funding 4 startups in Series A and Venture rounds.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Pearpop
- Breakr
- Creative Juice
- Direct Creator Investment Fund
- Robinhood
- Rarify
- Upshot
- Swoop
Slow Ventures funds:
- Fifth Flagship Seed-Stage Fund ($195M)
- Second Opportunity-Type Fund ($130M)
- Slow Ventures IV ($165M)
- Slow Ventures Opportunity Fund I ($55M)
- Slow Ventures III ($145M)
- Slow Ventures IV, L.P. ($65M)
Slow Ventures team:
- Sam Lessin (partner)
- Clay Robbins (principal)
- Kevin Colleran (managing director)
- Will Quist (partner)
Box Group
Box Group invests in pre-seed and seed rounds for early-stage startups, with a primary focus on tech companies.
The firm has invested in multiple social networking companies and creator-based startups like Brat TV, Byte (a short-form video app), and Clubhouse.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Clubhouse
- Circle
- Brat
- Creative Juice
- Maven
- Stripe
- Skillshare
- Splice
- Spring
Box Group funds:
- BoxGroup Strive ($127.5M)
- BoxGroup Five ($127.5M)
- BoxGroup More ($82.5)
- Seed Fund ($82.5M)
- BoxGroup Four ($82.5M)
- Opportunity Fund ($82.5M)
Box Group Team:
- David Tisch (founder and managing partner)
- Adam Rothenberg (partner)
- Adina Davis (principal)
- Greg Rosen (venture partner)
- Claire Smilow (principal)
CRV
CRV is a VC firm that is currently investing out of a $600 million fund. It was founded in 1970 and was formerly known as Charles River Ventures.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Kapwig
- Patreon
- Patreon
- Karat
- Tribe
CRV’s most recent funds:
- CRV XVIII ($600M)
- Fund XVII ($600M)
CRV team and investors:
- Vivan Cheng (principal)
- Matthew Garratt (general partner)
- Max Gazor (general partner)
- Saar Gur (general partner)
Starting Line
Starting Line was founded by Ezra Galston in 2018 and is a Chicago-based venture capital fund that invests in consumer startups and brands.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Cameo
- Mavely
- Trill
- Kapwing
- Substack
- Soona
Starting Line funds:
- Fund II ($30M)
- Starting Line Fund II
- Fund I ($17M)
Starting Line team:
- Ezra Galston (founding partner)
- Ade Olonoh (venture partner)
- Kevin Willer (investor)
- Haley Zollo (principal)
Chapter One Ventures
Chapter One Ventures is an investment firm that was founded in 2017, and it is backing some of the largest players in the creator economy.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Cameo
- Maven
- Pearpop
- Fanhouse
- Circle Dapper Labs
Chapter One Ventures funds:
- Chapter One Early Stage Fund ($40M)
- TU Fund I
Chapter One Ventures team:
- Jeff Morris Jr (founding partner) invested in NFT startup Dapper Labs (CruptoKitties, NBA Top Shot). The company was valued at $7.5 billion just a few years later.
- Jack L. (partner)
- Jamesin Seidel (partner)
- Doug Dyer (CFO/COO)
Night Ventures
Night Ventures is the early-stage fund of Night Media (a management firm that manages some of the top creators like YouTuber MrBeast).
Night Ventures focuses on early-stage investments in fintech, crypto, SaaS, and health.
Investments in the creator economy
- Beacons
- Pearpop
- Zora
- Bitski
- Tensil
Night Ventures team:
- Reed Duchscher (general partner)
- Erza Cooperstein (general partner)
- Ben Mathews (general partner)
Floodgate
Floodgate is a VC firm that mainly invests in early-stage tech companies. The firm has raised over $400 million in funds.
Investments in the creator economy:
- BigCommerce
- Twitch
- Jodel
- IRL
- Skale Labs
- Mighty Networks
- Poparazzi
Floodgate recent funds:
- Floodgate Fund VI ($131M)
- Floodgate Fund V ($75.8M)
- Floodgate fund IV ($75M)
Floodgate team and investors:
- Mike Maples Jr. (co-founder and partner)
- Ann Miura-Ko (co-founder and partner)
- Arjun Chopra (partner)
- Iris Choi (partner)
- Tyler Whittle (investor)
- Leeor Mushin (principal)
- Isabelle Zhou (investor)
Kombo Ventures
Kevin Gould is the founder and CEO of the creator-focused investment company Kombo Ventures. He also co-founded several influencer-focused companies like Insert Name Here, Wakeheart, and Glamnetic.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Beautycon Media
- Insert Name Here
- Stem
- Wakeheart
- Glamnetic
Kombo team and investors:
- Kevin Gould (founder and CEO)
- Amruta Vyas (partner)
- Matt Hobbs (partner)
Spark Capital
Spark capital is a venture capital firm with over $4 billion under management, with offices in San Francisco, Boston, and New York. The company has invested in creator-oriented companies such as Cameo, Discord, Twitter, and Blud.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Cameo
- Brud
- Tumblr
- Discord
- Snap
- Descript
Spark Capital has raised a total of $3.8B across 10 funds.
Recent funds:
- Spark Capital Founders Fund VI ($7.1M)
- Spark Capital Growth Founders Fund III ($9.3M)
- Spark Capital Growth Fund III ($900M)
- Spark Capital VI ($450M)
Spark Capital Team:
- Kevin Thau (general partner)
- Nabeel Hyatt (general partner)
- William Reed (general partner)
- Connor Mullaney (investor)
- Hanseul Nam (investor)
- Aaditya Jain (investor)
- Clay Fisher (investor)
Ludlow Ventures
Ludlow Ventures is a VC firm based in Detroit that has invested in 100 Thieves (a gaming and lifestyle brand that is also backed by Drake and Scooter Braun).
Investments in the creator economy:
- Stir
- 100 Thieves
- Stream Labs
- Hooked
- YouTooz
- Brud
Ludlow Ventures funds:
- Ludlow Ventures Detroit II-A ($15M)
- Ludlow Ventures Detroit II II ($45M)
- Ludlow Ventures II ($45M)
- Ludlow Ventures I LP ($15)
Ludlow Ventures team:
- Jonathon Triest (founder & managing partner)
- Brett deMarris (partner)
Worklife
Worklife is a VC firm that strictly focuses on creators. It was founded by Brianne Kimmel in 2019 and is backed by investors such as Marc Andreessen and Alexis Ohanian.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Clubhouse
- Public
- Deel
- Webflow
- Pipe
- Hopin
- Floor
Worklife Ventures team:
- Brianne Kimmel (founder and managing partner)
Atelier Ventures
Atelier Ventures is an investment firm founded by Li Jin, which mainly supports early stage creator economy startups.
Even though the firm was founded in 2020, it has become one of the biggest players in the creator economy.
Li’s strategy is based on funding companies in the passion economy. She sets her sights on the “middle class” of the creator economy and supports companies that are building solutions and products for creators that may not be big and well-established.
Investments in the creator economy:
- Substack
- Stir
- Pearpop
- Patreon
- Beacons
Atelier Ventures team:
- Li Jin (founder)
To Wrap It All Up
From this point of view, it is no surprise that people glance at the creator economy with suspicion.
However, the number of investors prepared to pour their resources into the creator economy is further proof of its potential.
We predict that things will get back on track soon, especially because investors are fueling startup companies as we speak.
Until then, make sure to download the full list of the top 100 investors in the creator economy.
