12 Oct 2022
United Talent Agency (“UTA”), a global leader in talent, entertainment and sports and Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm, today announced the creation of a strategic partnership to invest in a diversified portfolio of high-growth startups at the intersection of culture and technology.
The strategic partnership will operate as UTA.VC. Sectors of focus include The Creator Economy, the emerging digital economy where independent creators can earn revenue from their work; Web3, the next iteration of how consumers, businesses and governments will interact on the Internet; and The Future of Entertainment, focusing on new technologies driving the production, distribution and consumption of content.
UTA has been investing in venture capital-backed companies since 2014 through its “UTA Ventures” division, with investments including Cameo, Consensys, Masterclass, Patreon, Pietra and others. The senior leaders focused on investments for the new UTA.VC strategic partnership include Investcorp’s Anand Radhakrishnan and UTA’s Caroline Jacobs, Clinton Foy, and Sam Wick.
“As content creators and entertainers recognize the opportunity to monetize their influence in shaping consumer behavior and culture, we believe that UTA has a robust pipeline of investment ideas and a clear vision for the future of the Creator Economy, Web3 and Entertainment on which we look forward to working with them,” said Anand Radhakrishnan, Head of Investcorp’s North American Technology Partnerships and UTA.VC Managing Director.
UTA.VC Managing Directors, Sam Wick and Clinton Foy added, “UTA.VC is the next evolution of UTA’s venture platform. The strategic partnership builds on our successful previous investments in companies – such as Pluto.TV, Radish, ART19 and others – and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to invest and partner with the next generation of companies in this space.”
Investcorp was previously an investor in UTA, originally investing in 2018. In July 2022, Investcorp sold its stake in UTA, marking a highly successful exit for Investcorp and its institutional investors.
For more information, please visit UTA.VC