It began with a YouTube video of a number of younger dudes hitting absurdly troublesome trick pictures on a yard basketball hoop. Some 15 years later, these friends — now with greater than 60 million subscribers on the platform and referred to as Dude Good — can have fun an funding starting from $100 million to $300 million from one of many nation’s premier personal funding corporations.
Highmount Capital stated Tuesday it’s investing “9 figures” in Dude Good, a creator of on-line content material fashioned in 2009 by 5 buddies who met at Texas A&M. Over that point, the Frisco, Texas-based startup — led by twins Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones and Tyler Toney — has grown right into a social media and model powerhouse with greater than two dozen staff.
Dude Good ia “media juggernaut on the intersection of sports activities and comedy” whose movies draw billions of views, Highmount Capital CEO Jason Illian stated in a publish. The agency did not disclose extra monetary particulars concerning the funding, however Illian stated the capital can be utilized in half to increase Dude Good’s administration group.
Stephen Lovekin/FilmMagic for YouTube
“The world’s prime athletes, celebrities and sponsors need to work with Dude Good due to their breadth and attain in addition to their dedication to family-friendly values and content material,”Illian wrote. “The Dudes have constructed a very particular model, and we imagine they’re simply getting began.”
Dude Good, which did not instantly reply to a request for remark, has steadily grown its YouTube viewers with a combination of irreverent and more and more elaborate movies. Current entries embrace tossing round a rocket-propelled soccer, sinking the world’s longest putt and poking enjoyable at workplace life.
Dude Good additionally holds greater than 20 Guinness World Data, together with longest basketball shot, longest barefoot stroll throughout Legos and probably the most Ping Pong balls caught on an individual’s head utilizing shaving cream. As the corporate’s recognition has grown, exterior individuals within the content material have included actor Zac Efron, skilled basketball participant Luka Dončić and soccer stars from England’s prime league.
The “creator economic system,” or folks with particular person manufacturers that flourish on YouTube, TikTok and different on-line platforms, is now valued at $250 billion and is projected to succeed in $480 billion by 2027, in response to 2023 analysis from Goldman Sachs. Analysts with the funding financial institution estimate there are 50 million on-line content material creators worldwide, though solely about 4% of them accomplish that professionally and earn greater than a $100,000 12 months.
Content material posted and monetized on YouTube pumped $35 billion into the U.S. economic system and supported nearly 400,000 full-time jobs, in response to 2022 information from Oxford Economics.
Editor’s observe: Due to an enhancing error, the preliminary model of this story erroneously stated that enterprise capital agency Highland Capital was investing in Dude Good. In reality, the funding is from Highmount Capital, a personal funding agency.
