UTA will increase its investments into creator economy and Web3 startups as part of a new partnership with investment firm Investcorp, the agency said on Wednesday.
Known as UTA.VC, the partnership has already resulted in investments into companies like the data analytics firm Antenna, blockchain tech company ConsenSys, the influencer marking platform Bounty, the fitness app FitOn and the NFT companies Percs and Danvas.
Investcorp’s Anand Radhakrishnan and UTA’s Caroline Jacobs, Clinton Foy and Sam Wick will serve as managing directors and senior leaders overseeing investments for UTA.VC. The partnership will also serve as an extension of UTA’s ongoing early-stage investment work carried out through the agency’s UTA Ventures division, which has made investments into companies like Emma Chamberlain’s Chamberlain Coffee, the podcast tech company Art19 and the celebrity video marketplace Cameo.
UTA and Investcorp’s investments into the creator economy come during a time when 40 percent of consumers in the U.S. say they have paid creators directly for content, while 49 percent of those consumers spending at least $25 a month, according to an Oct. 2021 UTA study. The agency estimates that the creator industry has a minimum market size of $9.8 billion and could reach $18 billion in the near future.
The pact with Investcorp also comes after the alternative investment firm sold its stake in UTA in July to the private equity firm EQT Partners, which is now the largest outside investor in the company.
