Fixated Gets $12.8M from Eldridge // Capital Flows to Digital Talent Reps
March 21, 2025 by Chris Erwin
RockWater Roundup
M&A analysis of the creator economy to make you a better operator and investor.
Today we discuss Eldridge’s investment into Fixated, including the deal details, company origin story, strategic rationale, planned use of funds including M&A and investments, and why traditional Hollywood is no longer the end game.
Let’s break it down…
————
NOTE: Fixated is a RockWater client, and we’re under NDA. We’ll therefore share info from the public record, what leadership has approved for disclosure, and general market themes we’re observing.
–TARGET: Fixated–
Overview
- Content creator management and monetization company
- Seek to help creators build diversified content brands and businesses
- Believe most creator reps focus on brand deals and not 360 support
- Founded 2023 by Zach Katz (CEO) and Jason Wilhelm (Prez)
- 33 FT employees
- Based in LA
Business Lines
- 360 talent representation
- Content strategy, creative production, audience growth, brand partnerships, and strategic management
- Provide platform-specific expertise to help creators expand beyond a single content channel
- Digital content studio for creator clients, Fixated O&O brands, and brand marketer partners
- Ideation, development, scripting, production, thumbnail, editing
Founder / Origin Highlights
- Co-founder Zach Katz
- President / COO of FaZe Clan from 2022-2023
- Long-time music industry veteran, former North America prez of BMG
- Trained attorney
- Co-founder Jason Wilhelm
- Cofounder of TikTok creator mgmt co TalentX in 2019 (acuired by RektGlobal)
- Gaming creator since 2011, 2 successful YouTube channels
- Cofounder of Sway House
- Director, Gaming at Studio71
Talent Client Highlights
- Zach Justice
- Host of Dropouts comedy podcast
- 1.3M YouTube subs, 1.2M IG followers
- Botez Sisters
- Professional chess players
- 2M Instagram followers
- Sofie Dossi
- Contortionist, 2016 America’s Got Talent Finalist
- 14M+ Subs on YouTube + Instagram
Capital Markets History
- 2025: Raised $12.8 million from Eldridge Industries and other investors
- 2023/2024: unknown seed funding
–INVESTOR: Eldridge Industries–
Overview
- Private equity firm investing across various industries, has strong media portfolio
- Founded 2015 by CEO and Chairman Todd Boehly, President Anthony Minella, and General Counsel Duncan Bagshaw
- Based in Miami other offices in Greenwich, Beverly Hills, New York, and London
- 112 FT employees
Company Highlights
- Portfolio includes A24, SXSW, Variety, Cloud9, LA Dodgers, more
Investment Criteria
- Growing businesses with strong leadership teams
- Invests in tech, mobility, sports & gaming, media & music, real estate, and consumer
- Preference for late stage and established businesses with proven revenues
Capital Markets History
Investments Since 2024:
| Company Name | Deal Date | Deal Type | Deal Size | Industry |
| Fixated | Mar-25 | PE Growth | $10M | Media |
| Washington Little Caps | Mar-25 | Buyout/LBO | N/A | Sports |
| SamCart | Dec-24 | Series B | $87.6M | Payments Software |
| Clearcover | Apr-24 | Later Stage VC | $55M | Insurance |
| Ebix (Insurance) | Apr-24 | Buyout/LBO | $400M | Insurance |
| Qloo | Feb-24 | Later Stage VC | $45M | Advertising Tech |
| Quansic | Feb-24 | Buyout/LBO | N/A | Music |
| Gamma. | Feb-24 | Early Stage VC | $100M | Media |
| Bilt | Jan-24 | Later Stage VC | $200M | Financial Software |
–DEAL DETAILS–
Overview
- Announced 3.12.25
- No valuation details disclosed
- $12.8M total round
- $10M investment led to a “vast minority” for Eldridge
- $2.8M raised from other unnamed investors
Post Deal Ops
- No details disclosed
Strategic Rationale
- Allows Fixated to expand service offerings for creator clients
- Fixated will grow team across talent reps, brand partnerships / sales, and content teams
- Will explore inorganic growth via M&A and strategic investments: talent rep firms, monetization tools, O&O media
- Want to be early and fast-mover as creator economy and talent rep opportunity enters new growth inflection point
- Eldridge gets foothold in creator economy, expands beyond traditional media and entertainment
–WHAT ELSE I FIND INTERESTING–
- More $$ flows into both digital and traditional talent reps. For a lot more background on capital flows into talent firms, read my posts on Carlye investing in Entertainment 360, and Night buying Bottle Rocket Management. I do a comprensive review of the fragmented talent management landscape, the extensive recent M&A, and why the space is ripe for consolidation and investment when you compare it to the PE-backed talent agency consolidation over the last 15 years.
- A trend that stands out is the increasing capital flowing into digital-focused talent orgs. We saw this with TCG investing in Night (est at around $10M) which then bought LFM / The Roost Network / Bottle Rocket in the last couple years, then Coral Tree investing $15M in Loaded, which then bought GG Talent. I’m curous to see if a digital-native talent rep platform can get to scale where they end up becoming the future acquirers of legacy Hollywood management companies, or if the trend of digital rep co’s getting gobbled up by PE-backed traditional management firms will persist. Based on the significantly larger revenues and profits of the traditional Hollywood firms, and that big PE money is already aggressively putting put into M&A, my gut is that digital co’s will still be the targets for the foreseeable future. But ask me again 3-5 years.
- Traditional Hollywood is no longer the end game. I like this quote from Katz in The Hollywood Reporter, “I think that the big ambition has changed from the ultimate success looking like having a show on Netflix or Hulu to, ‘How do I actually build a business that takes the gazillion eyeballs out there, and how do I become a star on all those platforms?’ Some of our clients still want that — Zach Justice is obsessed with film. But creators are getting focused on the environments they’ve mastered and looking at Hollywood more like, ‘If it makes sense, it makes sense.’ I agree. Historically everyone thought that the matchmaking between Hollywood and film/tv/streamers would be the big opp and end game for creators, but that’s not proving out. The economics of traditional Hollywood are changing, and audience behaviors between film/TV and social media are just different. There are partnership wins that can happen (see Beast Games), and I hope to see more of those. But I think studio and TV partnerships are fading away as the creator biz north star, and will just become another growth opp to consider vs many alternatives as creators build 360 businesses. I believe Reed from Night also made a point about this over the past few months as well based on his experience with the Night roster.
- Strong talent / digital / media pedigree helped with fundraising: see Zach and Jason bios above. Team also bolstered by Phil Ranta (CBO) and Ali Adab (COO). Excited to see who else they bring on board with this fundraising – I expect some start talent rep recruiting, plus acquihires, to be announced over the next year.
- Eldridge moves into creator economy. Eldridge has notably been investing in music catalogs and representation companies. This investment in Fixated aligns with Eldridge’s broader strategy of expanding its footprint in the media, particularly within the creator economy. Fixated’s ability to help creators optimize content and expand beyond a single platform complements Eldridge’s investment in Qloo, whose AI-driven audience insights could enhance Fixated’s ability to drive higher engagement and conversions for its creator clients.
I’m the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for creator economy and digital agencies. From buy / sell-side M&A and fundraising, to consumer research and go-to-market planning.
DM me on LinkedIn or email me chris @ wearerockwater dot com
