Dolphin Entertainment Looks to Expand Online Capital Raising for Creators and Influencers Through Partnership With DealMaker

"Dolphin Entertainment has teamed with online capital raising platform DealMaker in an effort to rev up financing alternatives for celebrity-led consumer and lifestyle brands. The pact calls for Dolphin to work with New York-based DealMaker to develop products and ideas that need financing to get off the ground. Dolphin CEO Bill O'Dowd launched his marketing firm in 1996 with the goal of harnessing the power of celebrity and cultural influence to drive business in sectors beyond entertainment, including lifestyle and consumer products."

"DealMaker's service is not crowd sourced fundraising but the marketing of stock in startup companies. DealMakers offers creators and others a ready-made infrastructure to sell Securities and Exchange Commission-compliant shares in their companies to the public. O'Dowd says taking the public route to raising money to launch companies, versus the traditional process of hiring advisors and making the rounds of private equity firms, means that funding should happen faster for clients that are eager to maximize their heat in pop culture at a given moment."

""Venture capital is very uncertain. It could take a year or more to get funding. They beat you down on price. And it's very small number of people who get funded," O'Dowd told Variety. O'Dowd sees the DealMaker platform as a way for celebrities and influencers to turn their fan communities and cultural clout into ownership stakes in companies that may have the potential to support their families for years to come."

Dolphin Entertainment partnered with DealMaker to expand financing options for celebrity-led consumer and lifestyle brands. The agreement will have Dolphin collaborate with New York-based DealMaker to develop products and ideas that require financing. DealMaker markets stock in startups and provides infrastructure to sell SEC-compliant shares to the public instead of using crowdfunding. The public route can accelerate funding compared with the traditional venture capital process, which often takes longer and involves tougher valuation negotiations. The partnership aims to give Dolphin clients easier access to capital and supply DealMaker with a steady stream of strong contenders, citing high-value influencer exits as models.

Read at Variety