- Uscreen, a startup that helps creators make apps, scored a $150 million investment from PSG Equity.
- The company offers features like memberships to help influencers gain direct access to their fans.
- It’s part of a growing crop of startups focused on building community and nurturing fandom.
Creator startup Uscreen raised $150 million as it aims to help influencers claim more control over the nuts and bolts of their businesses.
The company received a growth investment in February from PSG Equity, which took a majority stake as part of the deal.
Uscreen offers a suite of tools that help creators launch their own apps, engage directly with fans, and make money via membership programs, among other services.
The investment comes at a moment of flux in social media. Creators are bracing for a possible TikTok exit in April. They’re watching as AI content gobbles up attention on apps like Facebook. Amid the volatility, influencers and other media players are looking for more direct control over how they reach audiences.
“More and more creators are looking to leverage and own their land, rather than rent that land via all those Big Tech companies and social-media platforms,” Uscreen’s cofounder PJ Taei told Business Insider. “That’s really where Uscreen comes in, where you own that audience, own your customers, and can continue to re-market to them.”
Creators use Uscreen’s tech to host content on websites and mobile and connected TV apps. The company offers features like livestreams, messaging, and membership tools, among other products.
Its creator roster includes fitness and yoga influencers, media companies, entrepreneurship coaches, and other educators. They can use Uscreen to retain and store key audience information like email lists and payment details.
Uscreen is part of a growing crop of community-focused startups, including players like Patreon, Substack, and Fourthwall, that are focused on helping creators connect with their fans directly.
Unlike some of its competitors, Uscreen has leaned more into content infrastructure, allowing creators to build apps for a wide range of devices including Roku, Apple TV, and Fire TV devices. The move to support TV apps could become increasingly important as more social-media users watch content on televisions.
Uscreen makes money by charging creators monthly or annual fees to use its platform. It also takes a cut of subscription revenue from its creator and media partners.
Since its founding in 2015, the company said it has helped creators pull in over $600 million in subscription revenue.
Where Uscreen is headed next
PSG, which this week announced it raised $8 billion across two funds, invests in growth-stage software and tech firms that are small but can scale, its cofounder and chairman Peter Wilde said in a statement.
The firm invested in Uscreen because it felt the moment was ripe for a company focused on “hyper-personalized, community-oriented, identity-oriented creators,” Reid McCann, a principal at PSG, told BI. He said users want to be with “like-minded people in the community, lifting each other up,” and they’re willing to pay for direct access to creators through features like messaging and livestreams.
McCann said Uscreen’s growth opportunities could include international expansion and adding AI capabilities for video creation.
Uscreen plans to use its new funding to invest in product and engineering resources, including adding products to drive fan engagement. It’s already testing features like streaks and badges.
“As a bootstrapped business, we’re very small, nimble,” Taei said. “We do our best to be resourceful, but with a partner such as PSG, we can really put the pedal to the metal.”
