The creator economy is on track for a record year of M&A deals, according to a new report
Quartermast tracked 52 deals that had been announced in the first half of the year. According to the firm's analysis, that's a 73% year-over-year increase.
So far this year, two key players are inking deals in the creator economy: private equity firms and industry incumbents.
For instance, private equity firm PSG Equity invested $150 million to take a majority stake in the creator economy startup Uscreen, which helps influencers launch their own apps.
"Private equity is looking at some of these businesses that have been built and saying, 'Hey, there's a lot more we can do with growth equity,'" Quartermast founder James Creech said.
Summit Partners, another private equity firm, made a strategic investment that funded influencer marketing platform Later's $250 million acquisition of affiliate startup Mavely.
Media and advertising incumbents are also snapping up creator startups. An example is advertising giant Publicis Groupe's recent acquisitions of BR Media Group, an influencer marketing agency, and Captiv8, an influencer marketing platform for managing campaigns. Creech also pointed to traditional media companies buying up creator startups, like Fox's acquisition of Red Seat Ventures, a digital media company behind conservative streaming shows and podcasts (including several from former Fox News stars).
"Traditional companies realize the creator economy is an important category," Creech said. "They need to have this DNA, they need to have these capabilities in-house, so they're looking to acquire them."
A recent data point that backs that up: Creator-driven platforms will overtake traditional media companies in ad revenue this year, according to a recent report from WPP Media, an arm of the ad giant WPP.
M&A is heating up
"We track every single creator economy acquisition," Creech said, adding the firm uses SEC filings, PitchBook data, press releases, and other public sources to gather its report on creator economy M&A.
Across the creator economy landscape, here's where deals are being made so far in 2025, according to Quartermast's analysis:
Software companies, such as influencer marketing platforms and content creation tools, account for about a quarter of the deals so far in 2025 (26.9%). Deals in this category include Later acquiring Mavely and Publicis acquiring Captiv8. Quartermast's report counts 14 deals in this category between January and June.
Media properties, which Quartermast defines in its report as "digital publishers, short-form video studios, and creator media companies," were the second largest category (19.2%). The report lists 10 media deals, including Wonder acquiring Tastemade and Whalar Group acquiring The Business of Creativity.
Talent management firms continue to be a space for consolidation, making up 13.5% of deals in the first half. Shine Talent Group announced its acquisition of Spark Talent in January, and firms like The Outloud Group and Fixated have made multiple acquisitions so far this year.
Influencer marketing agencies are also cutting deals as consolidation runs through the industry, making up 13.5% of first-half M&A. Publicis is another buyer here. It acquired BR Media Group, an influencer marketing agency based in Brazil.
Audio companies, such as podcasting and music startups, made up 9.6% of deals. Creech listed Alex Cooper's Unwell Media as an example. It announced two acquisitions at the start of the year. Quartermast also included Epidemic Sound's acquisition of music recognition startup Song Sleuth in this category.
Meanwhile, other categories made up a smaller portion of the pie, such as gaming (3.8%), commerce (3.8%), and a generalized "other" (9.6%).
What the rest of 2025 holds for the creator economy M&A
What's in store for the second half of 2025?
Creech, whose firm has brokered two M&A deals so far in 2025, predicts that the creator economy could see more than 100 deals by the end of the year.
Categories that Creech said could ramp up include creator services, talent management firms, and influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing has continued to be a busy sector for M&A for the last few years, which have been freckled with deals on both the agency and platform side.
Publicis, for instance, has already announced two influencer marketing acquisitions in 2025 and acquired Influential for $500 million last year. The French company told shareholders in February that it anticipated "investing €800 million to €900 million" in acquisitions (roughly $930 million to $1.04 billion).
"That might not all be creator economy, but I think other influencer agencies or software will be part of that," Creech said about Publicis' potential deals through the end of the year.
Creech also expects to see more international deals in the second half of the year. While 40% of acquisition targets in the first half of 2024 were international, that shrank to 21% for the first half of 2025.
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