Entrepreneur, investor and Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has raised an eight-figure funding round for his media and technology company Steven.com, valuing the business at €365 million. The round, led by Slow Ventures and Apeiron Investment Group, is believed to be the largest creator-economy funding round in Europe to date.
Bartlett, who is also the creator and host of The Diary of a CEO, said: “By bringing together creator IP, capital and our infrastructure, Steven.com is positioning itself to lead in the next era of the creator economy.
"My ultimate ambition is to build the Disney of the creator economy – and the strategic partners this funding round has brought on board has enabled me to take a big step in that direction.”
The company, which houses divisions including FlightStory, FlightCast and FlightFund, plans to use the new capital to scale its global media and creator commerce operations while maintaining majority ownership of more than 90 per cent. The business integrates content creation, investment and technology infrastructure to help creators build long-term brands and ventures.
Bartlett compared his vision to that of traditional entertainment companies: “With my team, I think we are building the modern version of model. But in our world, the IP is not a fictional character. The creator is the new franchise.”
Bartlett’s existing ventures collaborate with high-profile figures including Trevor Noah, Davina McCall and Paul C. Brunson, while his Diary of a CEO podcast recently surpassed one billion YouTube views, making it the most popular podcast in Europe and one of the fastest-growing globally.
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