A Chicago-based investment platform that wants to fuel human creativity has launched a new fund.
GigaStar, which aims to connect investors and YouTube creators, announced its $1 million YouTube Creators Fund this week to provide discretionary grants to creators who earn more than $100,000 in annual YouTube revenue.
The fund is expected to begin providing capital in the second quarter and adds a new channel for financial support alongside the existing GigaStar Market platform.
"We wanted to support creators in a new way," Sarah McNabb, CMO of GigaStar, told Chicago Inno. "We're excited to offer promising creators a little extra support through the fund."
GigaStar Market enables creators to raise capital from thousands of investors. Through the crowdfunding platform, YouTube creators can offer a percentage of their channel's future revenue during public offerings that are open for a minimum of 21 days.
GigaStar has raised more than $1.2 million for creators to date with more than 12,000 investor accounts. GigaStar has also distributed a little over $111,000 to investors who have invested through the platform.
McNabb estimated that grants from the company's new fund would range from $10,000 to $50,000 depending on the channel.
GigaStar now has 24 team members since launching in April 2022.
The announcement follows a completion of a $3 million investment round.
