Marc Benioff-backed influencer agency Whalar Group is buying a creator startup for $20 million as M&A ramps up
Influencer agency Whalar Group is expanding its education tools and offerings for creators by acquiring the platform Business of Creativity in a deal worth $20 million, the company told Business Insider.
The acquisition is the influencer marketing and talent management company's first since Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and other investors bought a stake in the company at a $400 million valuation earlier this month. Whalar Group has not disclosed the size of that investment.
Business of Creativity hosts online courses run by marketing and advertising industry leaders. The UK-based startup was founded in 2022 by Ben Lee, Immy Groome, and advertising veteran John Hegarty, who is an investor in Whalar Group and has been its chairman since 2017.
The broader creator economy recorded a flurry of mergers and acquisitions since 2024. Publicis Groupe announced in July that it was buying influencer marketing company Influential and earlier this month acquired a similar company, Captiv8. VidCon, one of the creator industry's largest events, was bought by the UK media firm Informa in 2024.
In October, Whalar Group also acquired Sixteenth, a talent management firm. Business of Creativity is Whalar Group's third acquisition to date.
"It feels like our industry has gone from the fringe to a boardroom priority," Whalar Group co-CEO Neil Waller said about the creator economy. "It's just part of mainstream culture now, given the level of professionalism, the level of consumption, the level of impact that it has on building and shaping culture."
Waller said he expects more M&A deals in the creator economy as the space matures and consolidates further.
Whalar Group's acquisition of Business of Creativity is meant to help the company roll out more courses and events, particularly in the US.
"We've done things with creators in the past, but primarily our audience has been speaking to businesses," Business of Creativity's CEO Ben Lee said. "As we roll out future courses, there's definitely going to be one specifically around best practices, how large companies can work with creators."
Lee pointed to a recent example of an event Whalar Group and Business of Creativity hosted at Whalar Group's Los Angeles-based creator hub, The Lighthouse, where chief marketing officers and creators got together.
Waller thinks that education, through courses and other events, will have a lasting impact on the sustainability of the creator economy. He described the Lighthouse as a "college campus that we built to help creators learn," which has brought in partners from brands to Hollywood to athletes.
"Through this, we gain learnings of how creators could potentially also build their own courses for their audiences," Waller said. "We're learning about this side of the business as well."
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