Invesment is first by Maverix, led by Ruffolo
John Ruffolo’s Maverix Private Equity has made its first deal, joining U.S. billionaire Todd Boehly to invest in a Canadian company that has become a big player in the online influencer space.
Viral Nation’s 330 influencers are household names to millions of Instagram, TikTok and YouTube fans. The influencers include flight attendant Sandra Kwon and “daily scream” star Spencer Hunt. The company expanded into sports last year after the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association let athletes sell their name, image and likeness rights; clients include U.S. college athletes Anthony Hamilton Jr. and Jayden Hardaway.
“They are building an entire tech-enabled platform to make it less people-intensive so they can get more and more profitable,” said Mr. Ruffolo, Maverix managing partner. Mr. Gagliese credits Viral Nation’s success in part to “market timing – it couldn’t have been better.” By 2017, the pair felt Viral Nation couldn’t compete longer-term without a technology play. “I had this vision that marketing companies would turn into technology companies and [conventional] marketing companies would be gone,” Mr. Gagliese said. “I wanted to hedge against that.”
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