Amazon is looking to make a splash in the creator economy with its acquisition of a minority stake in Spotter, a startup that provides capital and support to digital creators. 

The investment will give Spotter’s stable access to Amazon’s channels, retail streams and monetization models. This could see its creators get a presence on Prime Video or sell merchandise through Amazon Prime, opening up new ways for them to earn revenue and connect with audiences. 

Spotter, which launched in 2019, has handed out more than US$940 million to YouTubers to date, including kid-friendly ones such as MrBeast (pictured), Like Nastya and Dude Perfect. It raised this money through funding rounds, and its licensing business pays creators up front for the rights to monetize their video back-catalogues. Spotter claims that its content generates 88 billion minutes of watch time per month. 

But it’s just one of a growing number of companies that have sprung up with a business model that’s all about investing in and supporting YouTube talent. And this could be a boon to indie producers who have made it big on the platform and are looking to expand beyond it. 

A similar outfit is Electrify Video Partners, which has raised more than US$85 million in funding to scale the production and distribution of YouTube channels, investing in a handful of kid-skewing creators including Veritasium (15.3 million subscribers) and puppet channels Fizzy Fun House and The Fizzy Show (10 million subscribers combined).