A funder of YouTube content creators including the Sidemen has landed £80m in new backing from investors including a firm chaired by George Osborne, the former chancellor.
Sky News has learnt that Viewture, which was established in 2020, will next week announce new debt and equity funding packages led by Lingotto, an investment vehicle of Italy’s Agnelli business dynasty.
Mr Osborne chairs Lingotto’s investment management arm.
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The bulk of Viewture’s £80m in funding is understood to be in the form of debt which will provide more capital to fund content creators, principally on the Google-owned YouTube platform.
Permira, the private equity firm which had lent money to Viewture in the past, is understood to have been repaid as part of the deal.
The remainder of the new money comprises a Series A equity round which includes commitments from Bolt Ventures, a family-owned venture capital firm, and Lexham Partners, a London-based backer of early-stage technology-led companies.
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Viewture provides up-front capital and rights protection for content creators amid the growing online threat of piracy and content theft.
In return, Viewture takes a share of future earnings from its content partners.
The company was founded and is run by chief executive David Page.
Its most prominent partnership is with the Sidemen, a group of YouTubers whose main channel has more than 22 million subscribers.
Viewture provided the Sidemen with funding to support their channel as well as a range of services to help them run it.
Other content creators with whom it works include a chef who operates under the name Mr Make It Happen and has 1.4 million YouTube subscribers.
It has also worked with MrBeast, one of the world’s most popular online personalities.
“I’m a great believer that these guys are the brands of the future,” Mr Page told The Times in an interview last year.
“The MrBeasts, the Sidemen – kids are more engaged with that than with any other brands.”
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Viewture has been contacted for comment on its latest funding injection.
