Creator Startup Jellysmack Buys YouTube Analytics Firm AMA Digital
Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash

Creator Startup Jellysmack Buys YouTube Analytics Firm AMA Digital

Creator economy startup Jellysmack has acquired AMA Digital, a Chicago-based YouTube analytics company, for an undisclosed amount.

Jellysmack said Tuesday that it will use AMA’s data analytics to boost its creator program, which helps roughly 500 content creators grow their audiences and revenues. The company, which has more than 120 employees in Los Angeles and partners with over 80 L.A.-based creators, uses A.I. technology, proprietary data and video editing tools to optimize and launch videos on YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and other platforms.


“We believe Jellysmack offers the best tech stack available in the creator economy, and the acquisition of AMA will further strengthen our core product to better serve our creator partners,” Michael Philippe, Jellysmack’s co-founder and co-CEO, said in a statement.

Founded in 2019 by Mateo Price, Chicago-based AMA claims to use proprietary data and technology to help YouTubers increase their revenue and viewership. The company says it has generated millions of dollars in incremental revenue for its creators—including popular YouTubers Jesser, Ali Abdaal and Dylan Lemay, among others—who collectively have 60 million subscribers. As part of the deal, Price will join Jellysmack as director of YouTube development.

In addition to enhancing its creator program, Jellysmack said AMA’s platform will help with its catalog licensing business, as well. In January, the company announced it would spend $500 million to license the monetization rights to YouTube creators’ back catalogs. The business of YouTube catalogs as lucrative assets has quickly gained ground, with L.A.-based Spotter also offering upfront payments to license YouTubers’ libraries.

Founded in 2016, New York-based Jellysmack’s most recent funding round, announced in May 2021, was led by Japanese investment giant SoftBank. While the startup did not disclose the size of the investment, PitchBook data indicates that Jellysmack raised $950 million at a $3 billion valuation. (A company spokesperson would only disclose the startup’s valuation as over $1 billion.) Jellysmack claims its managed content generates 10 billion global monthly video views and reaches 125 million unique U.S. users. Its roster of creators includes YouTubers like MrBeast, PewDiePie and Karina Garcia.

The AMA deal is Jellysmack’s second-ever acquisition, following the November purchase of A.I. video editing technology company Kamua.

What Are LA’s Hottest Startups of 2021? We Asked Top VCs to Rank Them

Despite — or in many cases because of — the raging pandemic, 2020 was a great year for many tech startups. It turned out to be an ideal time to be in the video game business, developing a streaming ecommerce platform for Gen Z, or helping restaurants with their online ordering.

But which companies in Southern California had the best year? That is highly subjective of course. But in an attempt to highlight who's hot, we asked dozens of the region's top VCs to weigh in.

We wanted to know what companies they wish they would have invested in if they could go back and do it all over again.

Read moreShow less
Ben Bergman

Ben Bergman is the newsroom's senior finance reporter. Previously he was a senior business reporter and host at KPCC, a senior producer at Gimlet Media, a producer at NPR's Morning Edition, and produced two investigative documentaries for KCET. He has been a frequent on-air contributor to business coverage on NPR and Marketplace and has written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review. Ben was a 2017-2018 Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economic and Business Journalism at Columbia Business School. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, playing poker, and cheering on The Seattle Seahawks.

https://twitter.com/thebenbergman
ben@dot.la
The Pandemic Has Changed the Music Industry Forever. Meet the LA Music-Tech Startups Poised to Reshape It.
Image courtesy of Wave
  • The pandemic has ravaged the music industry, but music-tech companies are poised to drive its growth into an industry where a music company is much more than music.
  • Los Angeles is home to a bustling ecosystem of startups empowering musicians through a variety of next-generation technologies.
  • The Takeaway: Innovations in music-tech offer new tools to independent artists to help them create music, manage money, reach fans and share their music in vivid, immersive ways.
Read moreShow less
Sam Blake

Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

https://twitter.com/hisamblake
samblake@dot.la
RELATEDTRENDING
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA