LivingWorks Ventures is wagering that the real currency of the creator economy isn’t clicks or contracts, but connection, the enduring kind that transforms cultural influence into ownership.

The new $30 million fund, led by advertising veteran Scott Elias and creator-economy entrepreneur Christopher Sorge, aims to move creators from campaigns to company ownership. Their model blends venture capital with mentorship and creative development, merging three entities under one umbrella: LivingWorks Ventures, the investment arm; Relationcy Studios, its in-house creative accelerator; and ezel, the boutique talent agency Christopher co-founded in 2021.

“Creators already have the cheat code… their audience,” Christopher says. “We want creators in the boardroom, not at the tail end of the campaign.”

Before the merger, Christopher and his wife built ezel as a counterbalance to transactional influencer representation. The Austin-based agency manages around 15 creators, generating several million dollars in brand partnerships since its inception, taking a more relational approach to how creators and brands work together.

Yet, as his roster grew, Christopher noticed a pattern: creators with loyal audiences and viable product ideas often hit a funding wall. “They had everything but early-stage capital,” he recalls. “They could see the next step: building their own products or media properties, but lacked the resources to make it real.”

To fill that gap, he launched Creator Venture Partners, a pre-seed and seed-stage venture fund backing creator-led startups. The idea caught the attention of Scott, whose four-decade career has spanned sonic branding, creative strategy, venture investment, and personal mentorship. Earlier this year, LivingWorks Ventures acquired Creator Venture Partners, naming Christopher its Chief Revenue Officer to oversee deal flow and portfolio strategy.

The acquisition marked a shift from talent management to what Christopher calls “creator business incubation.” “It’s where capital meets capability,” he says. “We’re not just writing checks. We’re building the systems and creative infrastructure that help creators scale.”

Scott Elias

From Sound Identity to Cultural Capital

Scott’s path to LivingWorks began decades earlier in a different creative economy. As the founder of Elias Arts, he entered the field of sonic branding, crafting audio identities for brands such as Apple, Yahoo!, Pepsi, Farmers, and Columbia Pictures. “We gave brands a voice … literally,” he says. His company’s work included the original audio mark for MTV’s moon-landing logo and sound design for film trailers from “Alien” to “Blade Runner.”

After selling Elias Arts to a private equity firm, he joined ad-tech firm Audigent as Chief People, Culture & Growth Officer, helping steer its sale to Experian in a deal reportedly exceeding $400 million. But his focus never strayed far from the intersection of culture and commerce.

“The creator economy understands what business often forgets,” Scott says. “Creators have their finger on the pulse of human need. They live where culture happens.”

LivingWorks, in his view, is a response to that realization. The firm’s mission is to back ventures that combine passion, purpose, and profitability, what he calls “businesses built for love.”

The LivingWorks Quadrant

LivingWorks Ventures will target four verticals: consumer packaged goods, health, wellness & longevity, hospitality & experiences, and entertainment (collectively known as the LivingWorks Quadrant). The focus is deliberately human-centric, steering away from software or AI plays.

“Everyone’s chasing automation,” Christopher says. “We want to fund what can’t be automated: passion, relationships, culture.”

Scott describes the Quadrant as a hedge against the impersonal direction of modern business. “The antidote to AI and robotics is emotional resonance,” he notes. “Business shouldn’t be about force; it should be about connection.”

Christopher and Scott reveal that the fund is fully raised and ready for deployment, backed by private investors with family offices expected to join in a second phase. Investments will be global, with particular attention to the United States, South America, and Europe, where both founders see untapped creative ecosystems ready to scale.

Their first portfolio announcement is slated for mid-November. One early project, still under wraps, centers on a long-standing cultural platform that blends music, food, and community. “It’s been shaping culture for years,” Christopher hints. “Now we’re helping it become a sustainable business with real structure and revenue.”

Relationcy Studio: ‘Where Ideas Are Built’

Complementing the fund is Relationcy Studios, a creative accelerator and operational arm that provides branding, storytelling, and mentorship to portfolio companies—headed by Chief Creative Officer, Vadan Less, a former SXSW CD, and Chief Design Officer, Poul Cummings. The studio operates on a fee-for-service model, functioning like an agency-accelerator hybrid.

Scott describes Relationcy as “a laboratory for human technologies.” Instead of automation or generative content, the studio focuses on storytelling, mentoring, and community-building, skills he likens to yoga or meditation for organizations.

“Storytelling and mentoring are human technologies,” Scott says. “Creators already practice them intuitively. Our job is to bring that capability into business.”

The studio will embed with each portfolio company post-investment, supporting creative strategy, brand development, and operational scaling. Christopher says it’s about providing the scaffolding most early-stage founders (and nearly all creators) lack. “Money is one part,” he says. “Capability is the multiplier.”

A Human-First Philosophy

Both Scott and Christopher speak with conviction about the need for a more “human-first” economy. Having spent his entire career in technology and sales, Christopher is wary of over-automation. “AI can’t replace passion, relationships, or culture,” he says. “And that’s what we’re building around.”

Scott frames it in philosophical terms. “For too long, business has relied on force; pushing products, targeting customers, optimizing funnels. But the creator economy operates through resonance. It’s relational, not transactional.”

Their shared belief is that creators represent the new architects of culture. “Creators don’t just sell things; they shape how people feel about the world,” Scott says. “That’s where modern business needs to go.”

LivingWorks’ structure reflects that ethos: ezel manages the person, LivingWorks backs the business, and Relationcy develops the brand and operations. The ecosystem is designed to give creators ownership from the start rather than the end of the value chain.

What About Success?

As the fund begins its first deployment cycle, Christopher and Scott define success less by exits and more by outcomes. “A win for LivingWorks is helping founders and creators turn ideas into operating companies with real traction, revenue, and cultural relevance,” Christopher says.

That approach mirrors the shift many analysts see in the maturing creator economy: away from one-off sponsorships and toward long-term equity and IP ownership. For Scott, it’s a natural next phase of creative labor. “The world doesn’t need another fund,” he says. “We’re talking about something bigger than capital; it needs a cultural engine that speaks to real-life needs.”

“The people behind the ideas should be seen and celebrated,” Christopher adds. “If we can do that while building profitable companies, that’s the points on the board that matter most.”

In practical terms, the firm’s short-term goals include completing its rebrand, finalizing early investments, and establishing partnerships with creator-management collectives and talent agencies. Long-term, Scott hopes to prove that relational mentorship can outperform traditional venture metrics.

LivingWorks Ventures’ official launch is expected within weeks, with portfolio announcements to follow. The team plans to expand its presence across New York, Austin, and Los Angeles, while developing a pipeline of creator-led brands across multiple continents.

Despite the fund’s global ambitions, both founders emphasize that their north star remains personal. “Creators remind us that business is ultimately about people and relationships,” Scott says. “The goal isn’t to automate humanity. It’s to amplify it.”

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