Brand

Steven Bartlett Teams With Authentic Brands Group to Launch $400M Creator Venture

Published on September 15, 2026

Steven Bartlett’s creator holding company Steven.com and brand and entertainment platform Authentic have launched OBSN, short for “Obsession,” a venture designed to build media companies and brands around the world’s most prominent creators. The partners plan to deploy up to $400 million into creator-led businesses over the coming years, according to Bartlett.

The venture combines Steven.com’s media, technology, data, and audience-growth capabilities with Authentic’s expertise in brand building, product development, licensing, strategic partnerships, and global distribution.

“The next generation of global media companies and consumer brands will be built around creators. But a global audience of millions is not yet a company, and it certainly should not be the ceiling of a creator’s potential,” Bartlett said. “We are aiming to deploy up to $400m in creator businesses over the coming years; OBSN is at the heart of that strategy.”

Authentic President and CEO Matt Maddox said the company sees an opportunity to “identify, invest in and scale creator-led IP” through the partnership. At the center of OBSN is a platform offering news, analysis and live experiences for the Creator Economy, which the companies say is intended to become the industry’s definitive voice. Its media and experiences business is already live, with more than one million followers on Instagram, and is expected to expand into new content formats, channels and live events, including festivals and awards ceremonies.

A Growing Holding Company

OBSN builds on a period of rapid expansion for Steven.com. The company closed an eight-figure funding round at a $425 million valuation in October 2025, in a round led by Slow Ventures and Apeiron Investment Group that it called Europe’s largest creator holding company fundraising to date. Bartlett retained more than 90% ownership in that deal.

Steven.com now employs more than 100 people across offices in London, Manchester, Los Angeles and New York, and its portfolio spans FlightStory, its media and talent division, FlightCast, a podcast hosting platform, and FlightFund. Its flagship show, “The Diary of a CEO,” has surpassed 1.5 billion YouTube views, with over 19 million subscribers.

Authentic brings scale on the brand side. The company owns more than 50 brands, including Reebok, Champion and Brooks Brothers, operates in more than 150 countries through a network of over 1,700 licensees and partners, and drives more than $38 billion in annual systemwide retail sales.

OBSN debuted at a creator-focused event in New York on September 14, featuring a fireside conversation between Bartlett and Authentic Founder and Executive Chairman Jamie Salter, moderated by “Hot Smart Rich” founder Maggie Sellers Reum.