HardScope announced its launch as a vertically-integrated creator media platform, aiming to scale talent growth while providing brands with infrastructure to build partnerships with creators. The company is led by Matt Kalish, co-founder of DraftKings, who also serves as CEO of FaZe Clan following its relaunch under new management.

The launch addresses a market inefficiency in the creator economy. While creators command nearly 70% of youth attention, less than 5% of global digital ad spend currently flows into the creator economy, according to market analysis cited by the company.

Platform Capabilities for Creators

HardScope provides creators with what it describes as “C-Suite” capabilities, including strategy, creative, production, social media management, distribution, and commercialization services. The platform aims to help independent creators scale their audience and content quality while developing original intellectual property and launching new products.

The company’s recent track record includes powering FaZe Clan’s 2024 relaunch, which earned the organization “Content Organization of the Year” recognition in 2024. 

According to HardScope, its October Subathon generated 1.8 billion video views and 85 million social engagements, with HardScope creators occupying the top seven spots on Twitch and capturing nearly 25% of “Just Chatting” hours watched during the campaign period. Each participating streamer gained over 100,000 new subscribers during the event.

Brand Partnership Infrastructure

HardScope offers brands access to creator audiences through four service offerings. 

HardScope Brand Solutions provides brands with access to HardScope talent, and facilitates partnerships with creators across the broader ecosystem. HardScope XPM, the company’s proprietary clipping and distribution technology, transforms long-form livestreams and video-on-demand content into short-form content for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.

“Brands know the audience has shifted, but they struggle to navigate the fragmentation of the creator space,” Mandy Gardiner, SVP of Brand Partnerships at HardScope, said in a statement. “We’re making it simple to create authentic partnerships that place brands at the center of creator communities and culture, while driving powerful business results.”

The platform also includes HardScope Studio, which develops original intellectual property and produces live content, and HardScope Experiential, which handles event production with brand integrations.

The company positions itself as delivering a 2.4x return on investment compared with traditional digital ads. “We take pride in being the battle-tested team of makers, who create valuable assets in-house and get results for partners in a sea of unaccountable middlemen,” said Kalish.

The timing coincides with significant growth in creator marketing budgets. A recent CreatorIQ report found that creator marketing investments increased 171% year-over-year. Nearly two-thirds of increased influencer marketing investment is being reallocated from digital and paid advertising channels, with 64% of marketers shifting budgets directly from paid or digital advertising.

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