Night Media Launches $20 Million Venture Fund

The management firm representing MrBeast is expanding its operations into the venture capital landscape.

Night Media, a multimedia talent management company established six years ago and based in Dallas, is finalizing a debut fund. This fund has secured $20 million in commitments from prominent online influencers, known for family-friendly content, as well as other leading figures in social media.

Investment Focus Areas

According to Night Media CEO Reed Duchscher, the fund will prioritize initial investments of up to $300,000 across three key areas. These include direct-to-consumer startups, gaming companies – particularly those leveraging user-generated content – and businesses within the creator economy itself, including those that support creators.

Duchscher possesses a unique understanding of the creator economy, having built his company around it.

Originally from North Dakota, Duchscher was a football player at North Dakota State University. After graduation, while working at a sports agency, he discovered the comedy group Dude Perfect online. Intrigued by their success, he proactively reached out to learn about their operations and revenue streams. This led him to establish his own venture focused on working with the group full-time.

A Portfolio of Influencers

Although Night Media no longer represents Dude Perfect, the company currently manages a roster of 16 influential groups. This includes popular YouTube personalities such as ZHC (19.7 million subscribers), Preston (15.6 million), Matt Stonie (13.7 million), Unspeakable (10.8 million), Azzyland (13.3 million), Typical Gamer (11.4 million), and Carter Sharer (7.6 million).

MrBeast, whose given name is Jimmy Donaldson, stands as the most prominent asset within the portfolio. He has cultivated a YouTube following of 55 million subscribers and consistently generates over 30 million views per video, with a posting schedule of two to three videos monthly.

Beyond Content Creation

Duchscher, who initially connected with Donaldson via Twitter, has been actively assisting Donaldson and other clients in identifying and pursuing opportunities beyond content creation.

Last year, Night Media established a venture studio to incubate companies that its talent could help develop and expand. This initiative resulted in MrBeastBurger, a collaboration with Virtual Dining Concepts. This venture utilizes a network of ghost kitchens nationwide to offer “Beast Burgers” and related items through a dedicated mobile application.

Donaldson has also contributed to the latest version of the “Finger on the App” game.

When questioned about potential follow-on funding for these ventures, Duchscher indicated that it wasn’t the primary objective for the studio’s startups, although it could be considered based on future capital needs. He suggested that additional venture investment might introduce unnecessary “complexity.”

Leveraging Industry Insights

Night Media’s talent base is keen on understanding, influencing, and benefiting from the evolving trends within their industry. This led to the creation of the new venture fund, which has the potential to evolve into a larger business over time.

While a professional investor will join the team this spring, Duchscher has been proactively engaging with experienced individuals in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. He’s sought guidance from those with extensive experience in institutional investing and navigating financial cycles.

He specifically mentioned Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners as firms already providing potential investment opportunities.

Strategic Partnerships

Duchscher also noted conversations with Sound Ventures, led by Ashton Kutcher, and their involvement in deals like Backbone, a specialized game controller for iPhones.

To date, Night Media has participated in funding approximately a dozen startups. These include Lolli, a rewards app offering bitcoin payouts, backed by Craft Ventures and Guy Oseary; and Pearpop, a platform enabling fans to bid for screen time with TikTok creators.

Italic, a marketplace connecting shoppers directly with luxury brand manufacturers, is also part of the portfolio.

These companies have agreed to collaborate with Night Media in exchange for access to its creators and their expertise – a unique advantage that Duchscher believes sets the firm apart from traditional venture capital firms.

Future Outlook

Whether this venture activity will lead to a greater emphasis on venture capital remains to be seen. Duchscher emphasizes that the success of the first fund will dictate future plans. “We’re not going to raise because we can,” he stated. “That’s never been the way we think or operate.”

Currently, a significant portion of his time is dedicated to managing the high volume of inbound requests for collaboration with his clients, where demand currently exceeds availability.

“Usually, people want to work with a specific creator,” he explained, “and there are only so many hours in the day.”

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