Creator economy M&A hit a record 70 deals in the first half of 2026, up 23% year over year, according to Quartermast Advisors data reported by Net Influencer. Talent agencies are among the buyers. If your influencer stack depends on a startup, someone with a roster to protect may soon own it.
The premise needs one correction
The headline version of this story says agencies are hoovering up martech startups. The data says something more interesting.
The Quartermast first-half data puts media acquisitions at 27.1% of deal volume, the largest share of any category and the first time media has led the market. In that same Quartermast breakdown, software followed at 24.3%, agencies at 21.4% and talent management at 14.3%. Software is still a quarter of all activity, but it is one of four buckets, not the whole game.
So why do software deals matter to you more than their share suggests? Because software is where your data, your reporting and your vendor risk live. A media acquisition changes what an agency owns. A software acquisition changes what you depend on.
Why talent agencies want the tech
Three motives show up repeatedly in the deals and agency launches I have tracked.
- Clients now own distribution. Ben Davis, co-head of WME’s digital group, framed it as a question of how an agent’s role changes when clients own their distribution. WME answered with Creator Labs, an in-house unit for channel management and syndication, plus an investment in video operations company Astra Media, according to Net Influencer’s report on the launch.
- Deal brokering is a thin business. Digiday describes the legacy model as manual talent sourcing and slow, service-heavy operations that is giving way to something faster and more scalable. Software and data tooling is how you scale a service business.
- Separately, CAA and Integrated Media Company launched Compound Creative Holdings, a $250 million vehicle to acquire and operate creator-led media companies.
Agencies are treating creators less as talent to be booked and more as founders of standalone media businesses. Owning the operating software is the logical next step.
What an agency gets from a martech startup
Think about what a roster business lacks. It has relationships. It has leverage in negotiations. It usually does not have first-party data on audience quality, campaign performance or creator pricing.
A discovery tool, an influencer CRM or a measurement startup fills that gap. Suddenly the agency can price its talent against live benchmarks, pitch brands with proprietary audience data and automate the briefing, contracting and payment work that eats margin.
That is great for the agency. For a brand, it raises a question I would ask in every vendor review: whose interests does this tool serve now?
The conflict of interest brands should price in
Picture a creator search platform you use to shortlist talent. Last quarter it was neutral. This quarter it belongs to an agency that represents 300 creators. Does the ranking algorithm change? Probably not on day one. But you have no way to verify that, and neither does your procurement team.
The risk is not villainy. It is opacity. Four places it tends to show up:
- Discovery bias. Owned-roster creators surface higher, or recommendations quietly favor them.
- Data access. Your campaign history, creator rate cards and negotiation patterns now sit inside a competitor’s parent company.
- Measurement independence. A platform grading campaigns that its owner’s talent delivered is grading its own homework. This is exactly the kind of issue that makes attribution fail the CFO test.
- Pricing. Software fees can be bundled into talent fees, which hides your true cost per deliverable.
None of these is a reason to avoid agency-owned tools. They are reasons to write protections into the contract before a change of control, not after.
How are these companies valued, and why does it matter?
Valuation tells you what the acquirer needs to believe. Quartermast’s ranges are wide. Per Quartermast’s valuation ranges, software companies are priced on ARR multiples of 2.0x to 12.0x, driven by net revenue retention and gross margin. The same report has agencies spanning 3.5x to 10.1x EBITDA, depending on recurring revenue share, margins and growth rate. Talent management firms, according to the Quartermast figures, trade between 3.0x and 9.0x EBITDA, with concentration risk in a single top creator acting as the primary discount factor.
Read that as an operator. An agency with lumpy, project-based revenue earns a low multiple. A software business with recurring revenue earns a high one. Buying a startup lets an agency convert a slice of its earnings into something investors value more. Your subscription fee is part of that story, so expect pressure to move you from pilots to annual contracts, and to cross-sell services.
Where this is likely to go
Quartermast projects more than 100 deals will close by year-end, and it notes buyers from outside the creator economy, including HubSpot and OpenAI, are entering the market. Not every purchase will be by a talent agency, and not every startup will end up with a roster owner. Holding companies are active too. Digiday notes that Publicis acquired Captiv8 for $175 million, which shows the same logic playing out on the Madison Avenue side.
The practical read: consolidation will continue, your vendor map will change under you, and the cost of a surprise acquisition lands on the brand, not the vendor.
A due diligence checklist for your current stack
Run this on every creator vendor, starting with the ones holding your performance data.
- Change-of-control clause. Can you terminate without penalty if the vendor is acquired by an agency, a talent company or a competitor of your category?
- Data ownership and portability. Can you export campaign, creator and payment records on demand, in a usable format?
- Ranking transparency. Does the vendor disclose any financial interest in creators it recommends?
- Measurement audit rights. Can a third party validate the numbers? Use a layered measurement audit as the template.
- Roster conflicts. Does the owner represent creators who compete with your own ambassadors?
On the agency side, the same shift is changing contract expectations. We covered how talent agencies entering creator deals should push brands to renegotiate terms. Pair that with clear decision rights so procurement, legal and the creator team know who signs off on a vendor change.
Could consolidation actually help you?
Yes, in some cases. An agency that owns its workflow tools can offer faster briefing, cleaner reporting and fewer handoffs. Fewer vendors can mean lower integration costs and less dashboard sprawl, a problem we have framed as a budget problem, not a tooling one.
The test is whether the integration is visible in your results. If cost per deliverable falls and reporting improves, fine. If fees rise and the dashboard gets prettier, you are paying for the acquirer’s synergy story.
FAQs
Why are talent agencies acquiring marketing tech startups?
Agencies want scalable, recurring revenue and proprietary data. Their traditional brokering model is service-heavy and hard to scale, so software and operations capabilities help them serve creators who now run their own media businesses. WME’s Creator Labs and Astra Media investment is one example.
Is software the biggest target in creator economy M&A?
Not anymore. In the first half, media took 27.1% of deal volume, ahead of software at 24.3%, according to Quartermast Advisors. Software remains a major category and the one most likely to affect brand data and reporting.
How does an agency acquisition of a martech vendor affect brands?
It can create conflicts of interest in creator discovery, measurement and pricing, and it moves your data under new ownership. Review change-of-control, data portability and disclosure terms in every vendor contract.
Should brands stop using agency-owned platforms?
No. Many will be useful and well run. Require transparency on roster ownership, independent validation of metrics and clean exit rights, then judge the tool on results.
How many creator economy deals are happening?
Quartermast recorded 70 transactions in the first half, up 23% year over year, and projects more than 100 deals by year-end. Its figure for full-year 2025 is reported as 87 in the mid-year report, and as 81 in Net Influencer’s earlier coverage of the annual report, so treat counts as estimates that get revised.
This week, list every creator vendor that touches your performance data and check each contract for a change-of-control exit and a data export right. Fix the gaps before the next acquisition announcement lands in your inbox.
Top Influencer Marketing Agencies
The leading agencies shaping influencer marketing in 2026
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Moburst
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The Shelf
Boutique Beauty & Lifestyle Influencer AgencyA data-driven boutique agency specializing exclusively in beauty, wellness, and lifestyle influencer campaigns on Instagram and TikTok. Best for brands already focused on the beauty/personal care space that need curated, aesthetic-driven content.Clients: Pepsi, The Honest Company, Hims, Elf Cosmetics, Pure LeafVisit The Shelf → -
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Audiencly
Niche Gaming & Esports Influencer AgencyA specialized agency focused exclusively on gaming and esports creators on YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. Ideal if your campaign is 100% gaming-focused — from game launches to hardware and esports events.Clients: Epic Games, NordVPN, Ubisoft, Wargaming, Tencent GamesVisit Audiencly → -
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Viral Nation
Global Influencer Marketing & Talent AgencyA dual talent management and marketing agency with proprietary brand safety tools and a global creator network spanning nano-influencers to celebrities across all major platforms.Clients: Meta, Activision Blizzard, Energizer, Aston Martin, WalmartVisit Viral Nation → -
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The Influencer Marketing Factory
TikTok, Instagram & YouTube CampaignsA full-service agency with strong TikTok expertise, offering end-to-end campaign management from influencer discovery through performance reporting with a focus on platform-native content.Clients: Google, Snapchat, Universal Music, Bumble, YelpVisit TIMF → -
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NeoReach
Enterprise Analytics & Influencer CampaignsAn enterprise-focused agency combining managed campaigns with a powerful self-service data platform for influencer search, audience analytics, and attribution modeling.Clients: Amazon, Airbnb, Netflix, Honda, The New York TimesVisit NeoReach → -
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Ubiquitous
Creator-First Marketing PlatformA tech-driven platform combining self-service tools with managed campaign options, emphasizing speed and scalability for brands managing multiple influencer relationships.Clients: Lyft, Disney, Target, American Eagle, NetflixVisit Ubiquitous → -
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Obviously
Scalable Enterprise Influencer CampaignsA tech-enabled agency built for high-volume campaigns, coordinating hundreds of creators simultaneously with end-to-end logistics, content rights management, and product seeding.Clients: Google, Ulta Beauty, Converse, AmazonVisit Obviously →