The creator-powered economy has mushroomed in recent years, growing from less than $50 billion in 2019 to over $100 billion today. Goldman Sach estimates the ecosystem’s growth to hit the $500 billion mark by 2028. While these figures are impressive, what’s even more striking is that content creators companies and startups are now competing head-to-head with some of the most profitable companies in the world.
This post will take a deep dive into the creator economy, explaining how much content creator companies have raised over the years to fuel this growth. You will also discover which content creator markets investors are putting their money in. Additionally, we will highlight the five top creator economy companies presently ranked among the world’s most profitable brands in 2023.
Before concluding this post, we will discuss the future outlook of the content creator economy and how you can effectively leverage this fast-growing ecosystem.
What Do Content Creator Companies Do?
Content creator companies are the businesses that support creators with the tools and services they need to create, distribute, and monetize their content. These companies take different forms and operate in various niches within the content creator space. For example, companies like OnlyFans and YouTube offer platforms to create and monetize content, while others like Adobe Inc support creators with tools such as Premier Pro to make good videos.
According to Crunchbase data, the majority of these companies are based in the United States, while many others are in Europe and Asia. The data shows that about 5,065 content-creator companies exist worldwide. 39.36% of this number is from the United States, 29.23% operates in Europe, 17.59% is from Asia, and the remaining percentage represents companies based in other parts of the world.
Content Creator Startups Hit $6.8B in Total Funding
In the pre-2019 era, only a few investors paid attention to the content creator economy. However, this started changing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which acted as a catalyst for the exponential increase in the number of content creators. This growth attracted several investors, and big venture capital firms (VCs) started investing heavily in the tools and services content creators need to create, distribute, and monetize their content.
Crunchbase reported that in 2018, a year before COVID-19, $116.7 million in fresh capital was invested in content-creator startups, raising the cumulative funding in the ecosystem to $920 million. A year later, this number doubled as companies in the creator space got $279 million in fresh funding in 2019, pushing the cumulative funding to $1.2 billion.
The surge in funding continued over the years, reaching a record-breaking amount last year. 2022 saw content creator startups amassing a staggering $2.2 billion in fresh capital, propelling the total funding in the ecosystem to a massive $6.5 billion. As of the time of writing this post, an additional $300 million has been raised this year, and the cumulative funding now stands at $6.8 billion.
Companies Generating the Most Profit in the Creator Economy
Several content-creator businesses are raking in staggering profits yearly, with some presently ranked among the world’s most profitable companies and startups. Among those that achieved phenomenal success last year are Shopify, OnlyFans, and BitClout. Below we will provide an overview of these companies and how much profit they made in 2022.
Shopify – $5.2 Billion
Shopify generated $5.2 billion in profit in 2022, the highest in the creator ecosystem. The company provides tools for creators to create and distribute their content. It also provides a platform for creators to sell products directly from the social media platforms they use. The company’s revenue comes from subscriptions and merchandise sales.
OnlyFans
OnlyFans launched about seven years ago, grossed a massive $2.2 billion last year. The brand offers a social media platform that allows creators to easily create and monetize content by charging their audience a monthly fee. OnlyFans’s profit comes mainly from the commission it charges on its users’ subscription earnings.
In terms of actual figures, the earnings of the best OnlyFans accounts can reach astonishing heights. While precise numbers are often undisclosed, several reports and estimates indicate that some top creators have earned millions of dollars in a relatively short period. Their ability to monetize their popularity, combined with the platform’s subscription-based model and additional revenue streams such as paid messages and tips, allows them to build lucrative businesses centered around their personal brand and content creation.
It is important to note that these exceptional earnings are reserved for a select few at the pinnacle of the industry, and the majority of creators on OnlyFans may experience more modest returns.
BitClout
Next to OnlyFans is BitClout, a company that merges social media with cryptocurrency. BitClout runs a decentralized platform that gives users complete control over their social media accounts and revenue. The company earned $1 billion in 2022.
Other content creator companies and startups that recorded impressive profits last year include Impact ($233.6 million), Jellysmack ($216 million), Teespring ($183.7 million), Patreon ($160 million, Acast ($148 million), Discord ($130 million) and OpenSea ($93.8 million).
Which Content Creator Markets Are Getting the Most Funding?
VCs are investing their money more in US content creator companies than in other markets worldwide. European and Asian companies follow the US, as they also got significant attention from big investors. Last year, VCs invested $1.5 billion in fresh capital in the US content creator startups, an amount higher than the combined investment European and Asian companies got.
Statistics show that the US market has always been the top destination for investors since the exponential growth of the ecosystem started. As a result, the cumulative funding of content creators’ companies in the United States is higher than those of its competitors. According to a recent Crunchbase report, the total funding for US startups as of the first quarter of 2023 is about $4 billion, while the value for European and Asian companies stands at $1.9 billion and $439.3 million.
The Future Outlook for Content Creators Companies
The future seems bright for content-creator companies, as the creator economy is expected to reach half a trillion dollars in the next five years. While competition will be more intense in the coming years, we believe the expansion of the ecosystem will bring more profitable opportunities for content creators and the companies supporting their craft.
Wrap Up
The creator economy has snowballed in recent years, with some companies and startups in the ecosystem earning spots in the list of the world’s most profitable companies. We believe this growth trend will continue in the next couple of years, as the creator economy is projected to hit $500 billion soon. Thus, great opportunities await aspiring creators, investors, or companies that want to support creators.
