Courtesy of Position Ventures; MaC Venture Capital; Behind Genius Ventures; Signal Fire; Sydney Bradley/Insider
- Business Insider is compiling its fifth annual list of VCs funding startups in the creator economy.
- We want to hear from you about who the standout VCs are in 2024.
- Please submit your ideas through this form (or below) by June 18.
The creator economy is a relatively new investment category built around the rise of social media and the empowerment of individuals as content makers.
Like traditional media companies, creator startups often rely on Big Tech platforms like Google and Facebook to make money — a volatile position to hold. Throughout the past year, some startups have lost their way, cut costs, or shut down in full. Meanwhile, other startups are still raising capital and growing.
Creator upstarts often operate with fewer costs than older media brands, allowing them to test new business models with limited financial risk. New York media studio Fallen Media, for example, built a business around producing MTV-style shows for the TikTok consumer audience. It keeps production costs low, allowing it to test different shows quickly and determine if they'll perform without over-investing.
Creator startups that rely too heavily on influencers as the root of their business can struggle. But companies in this category that use creators to make money in a different industry, like e-commerce or consumer products, are often better positioned to succeed. A new wave of upstarts is building apps that focus on community-building rather than the influencer phenomenon, for example.
"I think of the creator phenomenon as a very kind of broad throughline across a lot of different verticals and sectors," Rex Woodbury, founder and managing partner at the VC firm Daybreak, told Business Insider in January. "The venture-scale generational companies are, yes, creator companies, but they're also typically fitting into another bucket."
BI is compiling our fifth annual list of venture-capital firms funding the creator economy. We want to hear from you on which VC firms are backing the companies that will shape the creator industry's growth in the coming months.
Please submit your ideas through this form (or below) by June 18: