Complete List of Youtube Channel Acquirors and Financing Players

YouTube channel acquisition has become a significant trend in recent years, with M&A deal volume increasing by 7% compared to last year in the tech and media sector, and for good reasons – the platform boasts 2.5 billion monthly active users and sees 2.4 million videos uploaded daily. Moreover, according to Google Ads, 59% of social media users find YouTube ads to be more relevant than those on linear TV or other streaming apps.

And this hasn’t always been the case. 

Just seven years ago, the idea of acquiring YouTube channels as a strategic business move seemed far-fetched. There was a strong belief that “real” content value only came from traditional studios and production houses. However, Moonbug, now the leading family-oriented YouTube channel, proved this notion wrong by using acquisitions as a cornerstone of its growth strategy.

Founded in 2018, the company had raised $272 million from Goldman Sachs, Raine Group, Fertitta Capital among others, and strategically acquired Baby Bum for $9 million as well as Supa Strikas in August 2019. 

A year later, they made even bolder moves by purchasing Cocomelon and Blippi for $120 million. Today, Moonbug stands as a leader in family-oriented content, reaching audiences across over 100 platforms—including YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Sky, Roku, and Amazon Prime Video—in 27 languages.

Moonbug’s rapid growth and market impact didn’t go unnoticed. In November 2021, Candle Media, led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs with backing from Blackstone, approached Moonbug with a $3 billion acquisition offer, which served as a wake-up call for investors and entrepreneurs, highlighting the immense value YouTube channels can hold.

Since then, new players like Spotter, Electric Monster, Electrify Video Partners, and Lunar X have emerged, capitalizing on the growing creator economy. As Matt Gielen, CEO and co-founder of Electric Monster, put it at a recent NAB Show, “You know creators are ‘gaining broader legitimacy’ within the economy when you’ve got Goldman coming out and saying this is a $500 billion industry by ’27.’”

That said, the YouTube channel acquisition space remains relatively opaque, with limited publicly available information. To address this, I’ve compiled an overview of the key players shaping this market. While it’s by no means exhaustive, I hope it provides valuable insight into the potential of this business model and the significant revenue opportunities it can unlock.

Major Players in YouTube Channel Acquisitions and Creator Financing

Spotter

Spotter is more of a creator funding firm than a YouTube channel acquiror. The company has deployed over $940 million across more than 750 YouTube channels, including major creators, such as MrBeast, Dude Perfect, and Like Nastya. The company’s core idea is relatively simple: Spotter sees value in your video Library, they’ll offer you a one-time payment for the right to manage the AdSense revenue from those videos for a set period, typically one to three years. Leveraging 10+ years of experience, they’re able to increase revenue from your videos by 50-200% through better advertiser targeting and placement.

They usually only work with channels that 

• Have been consistently uploading for at least a year

• Have a decent subscriber base (50k+) 

• Get a reasonable number of monthly views (around 5 million+).

Year founded: 2019

Founders: Aaron DeBevoise is the founder and CEO of Spotter. He has a background in building successful content networks, including Machinima and StyleHaul.

YouTube Channels Backed by Spotter:

Total capital raised: $238M over five rounds, including a recent 7.4 million funding, which is much smaller compared to the $200 million Series D round led by SoftBank in 2022, with a valuation of $1.7 billion at the time. 

Equity investors:

• SoftBank Vision Fund 2

• Access Industries

• CoVenture

• Crossbeam Venture Partners

• GPS Investment Partners

• HighPost Capital

• Amazon

Debt: Not publicly available 

Electrify Video Partners

Electrify Video Partners offers two main creator partnership models: either acquiring a majority stake (50-80%) while working with you, the creator, to grow the channel or purchasing the channel outright (100% ownership). Their core business model involves a roll up of established YouTube channels that generate substantial revenue (typically over $100,000 in annual AdSense revenue) and support their growth across all platforms. 

Founded year: 2021

Founders: 

• Ian Shepherd: Former Disney and Universal Music executive with extensive media industry experience.

• Owen Maher: Former KKR executive with strong private equity backgrounds 

• Justin Reizes: Strong private equity background and former KKR executive as well.

YouTube Channels Supported by Electrify Video Partners:

Total Capital Raised: $135 million, which includes $50 million in February 2023 and $85 million from Capital D in September 2023

Equity Investors: Capital D

Debt: $50 million loan facility as part of its earlier funding round led by MEP Capital, which supports its investment into new channels.

Electric Monster

Launched and founded by Matt Gielen in 2021, Electric Monster is another key YouTube channel acquisition player, who operates with a dual focus on general entertainment and kids’ content, aiming for a portfolio split of roughly 70-30 between these categories. Essentially, their approach to YouTube channel roll up involves finding “channels and outlets that are producing content in a repeatable format, and an advertiser friendly or desirable vertical. And then to either work with the founders or build a team around that to build them into, you know, fully developed media brands,” as explained by Gielen. 

Year Founded: 2021

Founder: Matt Gielen, a prominent YouTube strategist with experience at Nickelodeon and Fandango’s Movieclips. 

YouTube Channels Acquired By Electric Monster

Total Capital Raised: Secured over 2M in funding across two successful rounds, with the most recent round being a Series A – II in March 2023.

Equity Investors:

• Heroic Ventures

• Creator Capital

• Together Venture Partners

• Metropolitan Partners Group

• Additional investors include executives from private equity and venture capital firms.

Debt: Not publicly available 

Lunar X

Lunar X is a creator funding firm that specializes in YouTube channel acquisition and roll up – investing in content brands and transforming them into global entertainment franchises. Founded in 2024 by Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient Lucas Kollmann, they operate across four major hubs: London, Berlin, Madrid, and LA. They specifically focus on YouTube and Spotify as primary platforms, targeting educational content, entertainment, and children’s animation.

Year founded: 2021

Founder: Lucas Kollmann who held investment roles at KKR’s London office and worked across major entertainment companies including the BBC, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and NBCUniversal. 

YouTube Channels Acquired by Lunar X:

Total capital raised: $15M back in 2022.

Equity investor: Capital Partners and 468 Capital

Debt: not publicly disclose

Candle Media

Despite carrying $1.4 billion in debt, Candle Media has transformed its billion-dollar Blackstone backing into a streamlined operation that should catch any content creator’s eye. As a major creator funding firm engaged in a production studios roll up, the company was reorganized into two main divisions to cut operating costs and better monetize its acquisitions in a changing media landscape: animation under Moonbug Entertainment and live-action projects as Candle Studios, led by Sarah Harden. Notable acquisitions include Hello Sunshine for $900 million and Moonbug for nearly $3 billion, which have been crucial for profitability. To  date, Candle Media has spent approximately $4 billion on acquisition deals.

Year founded: 2021

Founders: Tom Staggs, Kevin Mayer

Production Studios Acquired by Candle Media:   

Equity investor: Blackstone

Debt: $1.4 billion in debt held primarily by Wall Street lenders including Ares, HPS and Blackstone itself. 

Kyra Media

Kyra Media operates as a creator funding firm for emerging social media talents. It’s a Gen Z-focused digital media company that acquires and develops emerging social media creators, primarily identifying talent on TikTok and Instagram before expanding their presence to YouTube. They combine AI-powered creator matching with content production and brand partnerships, operating through divisions such as Kyra Originals (reaching 13M monthly TikTok viewers) while working with major brands like Nike and Calvin Klein.

Year founded: 2017

Founders: Devran Karaca, Nick Dart, James Cadwallader

Kyra Media’s Brand Partners: 

Total capital raised: $27.7 million in funding over three rounds. The most recent round was a $15 million Series A investment on October 12, 2022, led by Bonnier Ventures, with participation from LionTree, Torch Capital, GMG Ventures, and Firstminute Capital.

Equity Investors: Bonnier Ventures, LionTree, Firstminute Capital, Guardian Group Media Ventures, Torch Capital

Debt: Not specified 

Recurrent Venture 

Since their inception in 2018, Recurrent Ventures has engaged in a digital media brands roll up, acquiring over 24 digital media brands, reaching 72M+ monthly unique visitors and 43M+ social followers, including Popular Science and The Drive, aiming to expand its portfolio across various verticals like automotive and home improvement.

Year founded: 2018

Founders: Andrew Perlman (Co-founder and CEO), Mark Lieberman (Executive Chair)

Digital Brands Acquired by Recurrent Venture:

Total capital raised: $400M, which includes a $75 million capital raise in October 2021 and a $300 million investment led by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities in May 2022.

Equity investor: Blackstone 

Debt: Not publicly disclosed

Little Dot Studios

While they started out focusing on digital broadcasting, Little Dot Studios, All3Media’s digital content studio and media network, have since grown into a major force managing content across the social media landscape, with over 80 channels on various platforms and 8 FAST channels. 

To strengthen its YouTube presence, the  company has pursued a content library acquisition strategy, including building their own content library through deals, such as their acquisition of 40 hours of factual programming from Quintus Studios and securing 60 documentaries through The People Profiles.

Year founded: 2013

Founder: Andy Taylor and Selma Turajlic 

Little Dot Studios’ Network: 

Total capital raised: Not publicly disclosed

Equity investor: All3Media

Debt: Not publicly disclosed 

Different YouTube Acquisition Models Compared

To keep things simple and easy to understand, there are usually 3 YouTube channel acquisition models: 

1. Full acquisition 

Basically, you pay full price and get full ownership of the channel – brand name, URL, videos, subscriber base, all future earnings, and even archived or unpublished content. 

Pros:

• You have complete control over everything.

• You can run both channels simultaneously, each targeting its own audience with distinct monetization strategies. 

• You own a proven business with existing viewers and income.

Cons:

• Requires a lot of money upfront, often millions of dollars

• If the channel relies entirely on the original creator, it risks failing if they leave.

• It can be hard to maintain the channel’s style and keep viewers happy.

2. Revenue Share Partnerships

This is more like a business partnership. Instead of buying the channel, you do what’s called content creator partnership. The creator still continues making content decisions, managing their brand, and running their channel as they see fit, the only difference is that they will share revenue with you. Spotter does this really well; they pay the creator a one-time fee in exchange for the right to license the channel’s long-form videos.

Benefits for creators:

• Keep control of their channel

• Get money and resources to grow (better equipment, marketing help)

• Low risk

Risk assessment:

• Might have disagreements about content direction 

• Have to share profits for a long time

• Might feel pressure to change content to make more money

• Could end up earning less in the long run

3. Talent Acquisition (without channel transfer)

This is more common when the success of the channel entirely depends on the creator, and you, the investor, are primarily interested in the creator themselves (their talent, expertise, and audience). The focus is on acquiring the creator’s talent, with the channel transfer being a secondary component of the deal. A great example of this is Kyra Media. They partner with top influencers to help brands reach Gen Z audiences, build awareness and generate more revenue. 

Pros:

• Direct access to creator’s expertise and skills

• Lower risk of audience loss during transition

• Creator’s personal brand value remains intact

Cons:

• High acquisition cost

• Talent retention challenges

• Dependence on individual performance

Final Thoughts 

Keep in mind that this is just a surface-level market overview of the YouTube channel acquisition major players in 2025. Successful channel acquisition requires a deep understanding of several key (sometimes complex) elements: advanced channel evaluation, deals structure, alignment with the right acquisition partner, drawing contracts that protect both parties, and so on.

Every week, I share these insights in my newsletter, breaking down the strategies, pitfalls, and negotiation tactics that have worked (and sometimes failed) in the digital acquisition space. The same tactics I’ve used to acquire an ecommerce brand and scale it from 6 to 7-figures in just 3 years! 

If you’re serious about acquiring digital assets or want to learn how to get fundings for your online business, I’d love to share what I’ve learned along the way. Drop your email below, and let’s continue the conversation.

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