Co-CEOs Ian Shepherd and Owen Maher think they’ve found an answer to the problem that’s long kept institutional investors wary of acquiring brands in the $250 billion creator economy: turning volatile personality-driven brands into sustainable media businesses. Their startup, London-based Electrify Video Partners, buys majority equity stakes in established independent YouTube channels which it calls creator-founder knowledge brands. It then provides capital and operational support to scale them. The company has grown rapidly since its 2021 founding, adding at least nine flagship YouTube channels to its portfolio. Its largest media property, Veritasium, whose channel posts science oriented videos like “How One Company Secretly Poisoned The Planet” boasts 21 million subscribers and over four billion views.

According to PitchBook, The company has attracted roughly $185 million from private equity firms including London’s Capital D and New York City’s Equable Capital and MEP Capital, on the bet that these brands can have a life beyond their original creators. While advertisers keep flocking to influencers—Forbes’ top 50 creators earned a collective $1 billion in 2026—investors worry that these brands are too dependent on the personality in front of the camera. Maher and Shepherd think the solution lies in less flashy categories of channels and building well-staffed production and development teams.

Electrify seeks out Youtube channels that are established leaders in a certain niche, be it coding, aviation or Lego. They are particularly drawn to brands that produce videos that “inform and inspire.” In other words, mini documentaries tailor-made for Millennials and Generation Z who are curious but have short attention spans.

“There's lots of viral trend-led sugar rush type content and we really want to focus on thoughtful informative content that has a positive place in the world,” says Shepherd, who believes the documentary-oriented channels it backs have an “evergreen” value that’s more stable than news or viral content.

“A video about Pluto or about black holes is just as relevant in five years as it is today,” says Shepherd. Electrify’s goals are high. Board chairman and former YouTube exec Timothy Shey sees the video channel roll up as the Condé Nast of the creator economy, where every brand in the portfolio is somebody’s........

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