Digital Brand Architects buys V1sion Ventures for creator businesses beyond social media. Seven-figure revenue, NFL talent, a $12B market.
Digital Brand Architects, the talent-management juggernaut owned by United Talent Agency, has acquired V1sion Ventures, a boutique firm founded by content creator Alina Benun. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
V1sion Ventures launched in 2022 with a thesis that creators needed more than booking fees – they needed help diversifying revenue and building actual companies. The business hit seven-figure revenue in its first year, the company said. Benun and her five-person team – three talent managers plus two other staff – will join DBA.
The roster includes lifestyle creator Leigh Soriano and music artist Chelsea Jordan. Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun is also part of the talent.
DBA has been acquisitive before. In 2022 it bought Digital Golf Collective, a golf-marketing and digital talent manager. The firm also launched Digital Brand Products in 2015, a separate company that helps influencers sell merchandise and build their own labels.
This deal is part of a broader wave. Publicis Groupe and Accenture have snapped up influencer marketing platforms such as Captiv8 and Whalar. U.S. influencer marketing spend is expected to cross $12 billion this year, and social-media creator revenue will exceed $20 billion, according to EMARKETER.
“Our team has spent years helping exceptional talent grow meaningful businesses, and being part of DBA allows us to scale that growth,” Benun said in a statement.
DBA’s CEO Raina Penchansky said the acquisition is about investing in creator entrepreneurship. “From the beginning, DBA has believed that creators are entrepreneurs who deserve partners that can help them build enduring businesses,” she said. “Alina and the V1sion Ventures team have built an impressive company rooted in those values.”
Benun previously saw a gap in the market for management focused on helping creators build businesses beyond social media. V1sion Ventures’ growth in its first year – hitting seven figures – suggests the thesis resonated. DBA, with its existing product-business arm, now has another tool to push that model further.
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