A private equity giant just snapped up a creator company, and it points to the next phase of investment in the sector
· Business Insider
H.I.G. Growth
Visit mwafrika.life for more information.
- H.I.G. Capital is betting on the creator economy, starting with the acquisition of Jake Rosen Entertainment.
- The PE giant envisions building a Whalar Group-style company serving brands and talent.
- PE is playing a small but growing role in the creator economy, a sign of the sector's maturation.
The creator economy is catching private equity's eye.
H.I.G. Capital, an investment giant with $76 billion in capital under management, has formed a platform called Waveborn to acquire creator-economy companies, starting with the management firm Jake Rosen Entertainment. The effort comes via H.I.G. Small-Cap & Growth, an arm of H.I.G. Capital. Terms for JRE weren't disclosed.
The plan is to build on JRE by acquiring other companies that span the core parts of the creator-economy ecosystem: brand relationships, content production, and creator monetization.
The companies didn't give details on the war chest, but cited Whalar Group as the type and scale of company they sought to build. Whalar spanned an agency, talent management, and influencer-tech companies and was valued at $400 million in 2025 before selling its agency to Accenture Song earlier this year.
The creator economy has seen explosive growth. Ad spending in the category has grown four times as fast as media overall and is set to hit $44 billion this year in the US, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
H.I.G. Capital's entrance into the sector reflects financial giants' increasing recognition of the creator economy's potential. It also shows how financial buyers are taking a roll-up approach to fuel the industry's expansion, rather than waiting for it to reach scale.
Eric Tencer, managing director of H.I.G. Growth, said factors like the IAB stats, along with his personal experience, forged his conviction in the space.
"I've got a 10th grader and a 7th grader at home, and I've been fighting a losing battle around, 'Why don't you just watch normal TV or movies,' and they go straight to TikTok and Instagram," he said.
H.I.G. Capital's view is that the ecosystem of businesses serving brands and creators is fragmented, while creators are building increasingly complex companies that require more expertise. Tencer said H.I.G. Capital chose a talent management agency for its first acquisition because it believed that putting creators at the core would help it determine its growth road map. Its plan is to acquire more companies to complement or bolt on to JRE, helping it offer more services to its roster of 400 mid-tier to macro lifestyle creators.
"I never want one of our creators to leave us for a different agency because they say, 'I want to go to them because you're not able to offer X services,'" said Jake Rosen, JRE's founder.
Rosen said he's bullish on the middle-income creators his agency serves.
"A lot of brands on the high side do not want to risk their entire budget on one mega creator," he said. "On the other end, yes, a lot of people are seeing success with micro, smaller creators, but it's a lot on the brand and agency to have 100 creators on a campaign."
Private equity is getting more active in the creator economy
Private equity firms are playing a small but growing role in funding creator economy companies.
That's happening mainly by backing or setting up firms like Fixated (funded by Eldridge Industries) and Wonderloom Media (backed by Content Partners) that become acquirers, said James Creech, founder of the advisory firm Quartermast, which wasn't involved in the JRE deal. That's similar to H.I.G.'s strategy.
Creator economy companies haven't traditionally fit private equity's criteria for mature companies large enough to meet its investment requirements. Strategic buyers — such as ad holding companies or talent agencies — are often willing to pay more for creator economy companies than PE firms are.
Rosen, who founded 25-employee JRE in 2019, said that when he started a sales process earlier this year, he decided that going the PE route would allow him to be actively involved in future M&A and JRE's growth. He felt that the corporate buyers he spoke with wanted him to adapt to their processes.
"Having a seat at the table, and to be able to have that voice for the future, was something that was really important to me," he said.
Creech predicted private equity's role in the creator economy would follow H.I.G. Capital's lead.
"Other private equities have the same thesis," he said. "There are growth equity players who want to buy a core business, put in more capital to fuel expansion. It reflects the continued maturation of the space."
2026 continues to be the busiest period on record for the sector, with 118 deals involving creator-economy players so far, compared to 93 in all of 2025, according to Quartermast Advisors.
Read the original article on Business Insider