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TOGETHER WITH |
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It's Friday and TikTok is taking on YouTube and Twitch with a series of newfangled desktop updates—including full-screen LIVE gaming streaming. |
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Today's News |
💸 MrBeast seeks funding at a $5B valuation 🛑 Meta fires "roughly 20" leakers 👀 Could Reels become a standalone app? 🛠️ Twitch wants to build up its middle class 🎙️ An AI-focused podcast ramps up
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BEAST MODE |
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MrBeast is seeking funding at a $5 billion valuation |
The mission: MrBeast is ready to bring a new inflection of cash into a holding company that houses all of his wide-ranging initiatives. According to Bloomberg, the creator (aka Jimmy Donaldson) has spoken to several financial firms about a possible funding round that would value his holdco at $5 billion. |
The company includes both MrBeast's videomaking operation and his offline ventures, such as the snack brand Feastables and the Lunchables competitor Lunchly. Those divisions reportedly combined to reach $400 million in sales last year—but Donaldson is well known for reinvesting the majority of his earnings in his future content. Big-budget productions like the creator's Prime Video original series, Beast Games, might break records, but they also take millions of dollars away from his bottom line. |
The context: A massive funding round would give Donaldson the freedom to push forward with that idiosyncratic approach while executing his vision for Feastables and Lunchly. He's already made moves to bring more MrBeast-related operations in house, including the reshuffling his executive team and splitting from management firm Night. Those changes gave Donaldson more control over his burgeoning business. He solidified that transition by hiring Jeffrey Housenbold—formerly of VC firm SoftBank—as his CEO and President last June. Now, if the creator can show that his vision for the MrBeast family of brands has legs, a long-rumored IPO might not be far off. |
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🔆 SPONSORED 🔆 |
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Gushcloud International and Azure Capital just launched a first-of-its-kind fund to invest in creators |
Gushcloud International—a global creator management and licensing company powered by AI—is partnering with Singapore-based Azure Capital Pte Ltd to launch a groundbreaking global initiative that empowers creators to build sustainable, long-term businesses. |
The Azure-Gushcloud Entertainment Finance Fund is designed to provide creators with capital to invest in content ownership, brand development, licensing, and digital commerce. |
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Today, the creator economy is valued at$250 billion and is projected to reach $480 billion by 2027 (Goldman Sachs). However, many creators struggle with financial sustainability due to fluctuating platform revenues and limited access to capital. The Azure-Gushcloud Entertainment Finance Fund bridges structured finance with venture capital, allowing creators to secure funding, while offering accredited investors a 12.5% annual return on their investments. |
"We have invested into creators in the last 24 months and have been able to return healthy double-digit returns and we hope to do more in a safe and predictable way, in an exciting economy." | | | | Andrew Lim, Gushcloud Chief Financial Officer |
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As Gushcloud and Azure Capital launch this first-of-its-kind creator funding initiative, they invite investors to join them in reshaping the digital economy. |
Visit the site to learn more → |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
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THE REEL DEAL |
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Is a standalone version of Instagram Reels on the way? |
The potential app: What began as Meta's imitation of another company's product has turned into a very real TikTok competitor. Two years after its launch, Reels is now bringing in 200 billion views per day across Instagram and Facebook. According to eMarketer, the vertical video format has accounted for up to 19% of Instagram impressions, driving the platform to U.S. ad revenue that is projected to reach $37.13 billion in 2025. |
Now, Instagram may be considering the launch of a standalone destination dedicated entirely to Reels. According The Information, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri remarked on a potential Reels app during a conversation with employees. (Instagram has not offered a comment on that report.) |
The context: With or without a standalone app, Reels is likely Mark Zuckerberg's best chance of usurping TikTok's market share. Threats to the rival platform's U.S. operations have already emboldened Meta to release a slew of new Reels products and cash bonuses for creators. |
Currently, those efforts are designed to direct "TikTok refugees" to Instagram—but what if Meta operated an app that more closely resembled TikTok? Mimicking the platform's layout, video format, and monetization structure on a new Reels app could prove to be an effective strategy for making migrating displaced creators feel right at home. |
That move would fit with Meta's recent push to consolidate and organize systems spanning multiple platforms and content formats. On Facebook, for example, a November 2024 change united multiple revenue streams within a single program. In the same vein, Instagram's disparate traffic metrics have now been united under the "views" umbrella. |
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MONEY MOVES |
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Twitch wants to build up its middle class by letting more streamers make money |
The letter: Since taking on the role of Twitch CEO, Dan Clancy has penned annual open letters updating streamer on the year to come. The 2025 edition of that tradition is now live—and while the exec largely demurred on specifics, he did allude to significant updates in areas like mobile streaming, clip editing, and interactive chat features. Clancy also highlighted several initiatives that have already gone live, including a partnership with StreamElements that brings sponsorship opportunities directly to Twitch account dashboards. |
For the majority of streamers, the most operative section of Clancy's letter concerns changes to Twitch's monetization system. The CEO indicated that "most streamers" can now access the Subscriptions and Bits tools, opening up moneymaking possibilities early on in creators' Twitch careers. The letter also hints at the possibility of on-platform purchases using creator earnings (although that bullet point was vague). |
The context: Twitch's attempt to build a "long tail" of earners resembles efforts initiated by Kick, which has built out its Creator Incentive Program to reward homegrown talent. Clancy previously argued that the upstart streaming platform made a mistake by using lucrative contracts to poach some of Twitch's top talent. Now, as both platforms turn their focus to smaller creators, that claim seems to ring true. |
Even so, Twitch does seem to be taking steps to address some of the factors that caused creators to jump ship to Kick. In particular, Clancy's letter mentions a more lenient suspension policy and a system that will inform streamers when their content breaks the platform's Community Guidelines. |
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WATCH THIS 🎙️ |
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An upcoming AI podcast wants to be "your cheat code to the future" |
The podcast: Shira Lazar is on a mission to unravel the biggest questions in artificial intelligence. The What's Trending CEO dropped a trailer yesterday for The AI Download, an upcoming podcast that will revolve around all things AI—from the Trump administration's next moves to in-depth conversations with "tech insiders, industry leaders, and innovators." |
The first full episode of Lazar's podcast is set to drop next week. For now, interested viewers can check out the teaser video here. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
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