Exclusive: What 188 Influencer Marketing Deals Signal About 2026’s Coming M&A Wave
I have the first look at Quartermast Advisors’ analysis of top targets, acquirers and the likely next big transactions (and who’s tapped out)
This is a preview of Like & Subscribe, my standalone Ankler Media newsletter on the creator economy. I wrote about Famous Birthdays’ bid to become “IMDb for creators,” whether CNN Creators can compete with top newsfluencers, and the Golden Globes podcast award mess. I’m natalie@theankler.com
Today, M&A advisory Quartermast Advisors has crunched the numbers on all 188 influencer marketing acquisitions since 2014, and I’ve got the exclusive first look at the data and what it all means.
But first…
Hello from Portugal, where I’m not just eating my weight in pastel de nata but also attending Web Summit Lisbon, the annual gathering of technology and media executives that draws more than 70,000 attendees. Tomorrow I’ll moderate a panel about how to connect with Gen Z featuring two members of (and experts on) that cohort, Pubity Group co-founder Kit Chilvers and shit you should care about co-founder and CEO Lucy Blakiston. I’ll share a recap and video of our conversation in next week’s column.
Chilvers was among our guests last night at The Media in Motion Dinner presented by ProRata.ai, where Ankler Media CEO Janice Min, Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes and ProRata’s Annelies Jansen welcomed a cross-section of media, tech and creator powerhouses including creator-entrepreneur Josh Richards, Pod Save the People host DeRay Mckesson, Time CEO Jessica Sibley, Eline van der Velden, the creator of AI actress Tilly Norwood, and London Centric Media’s Jim Waterson.
After Jansen prompted us all to chew over one of the most urgent questions in media right now — “How can publishers and creators start to make money off AI, instead of the other way around?” — Richards’ business partner, CrossCheck Studios CEO Chris Sawtelle, told me he could see some creators adopting AI chatbots as a new sort of (completely transparent) means of connecting with fans, not dissimilar to when all those celebrities starting “texting” their supporters a few years ago.
Another popular topic of conversations last night was year-end planning. With Thanksgiving just a couple weeks away, the holiday shopping season is upon us, and brands are jockeying to be front-and-center in your feeds. Online pet retailer Chewy, for example, has been busy signing creators up to build their own curated storefronts, and it’ll be handing out special codes to encourage more spending through the holidays.
Before we’re all inundated with shoppable links and discount codes, I’m bringing you some exclusive new data about the health of the $44.2 billion global market for influencer marketing. While product launches and Netflix deals are commanding the creator economy headlines right now, influencer marketing is what keeps the lights on for a huge number people in this industry. And as I covered in my mid-year creator economy report, there have been a number of big 2025 deals in the space, led by the management firm Later’s $250 million acquisition of commerce platform Mavely at the start of the year.
Now, back to the Quartermast Advisors report. The quick headline: After a post-Covid decline in deal flow, activity is ticking back up thanks in large part to interest in software platforms that facilitate matchmaking between creators and brands. Quartermast will make the full report later available a little later today, but first I’ve got an exclusive look at the key findings plus an interview about what it all means with Quartermast founder James Creech.
“Influencer marketing M&A deals have been much stronger than 2024,” Creech tells me. “They’re not at the 2023 or even 2022 levels, but we’re seeing a lot. And I think we’re still going to see some deals announced before the year is out.”
Today, I’ve got the exclusive on the deals driving the creator economy’s growth right now and insights into what’s next for the sector of the industry that offers the most consistent money-making opportunities for creators.
Read my full column only at Like & Subscribe to learn:
What’s driving the uptick in deals for 2025, as forces inside and outside the creator economy shift the landscape
The legacy ad/PR player with an estimated $900M war chest making headlines for its big acquisitions
Which sector of influencer marketing has seen the most M&A action this year, and the sector Quartermast is watching for big deals ahead
The top companies poised to make big buys before year’s end
Quartermast’s top 10 acquisition targets, from Open Influence to Viral Nation
How influencer marketing is growing globally, and where the hot spots are for deals now
Why Hollywood, where studios like Paramount have made big deals in the past decade, is likely sitting out this round
2026 M&A predictions and the biggest growth opportunity
The rest of this column is for paid subscribers to Like & Subscribe, a standalone newsletter dedicated to the creator economy from Ankler Media. Click here or on the button below to access the full story.
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