Alex Cooper launched Call Her Daddy as an open conversation about sex and relationships. The company she has built around the podcast has just taken its first outside investment. Investment firm WTSL, led by Patrick Whitesell, has taken a stake in Unwell at a $500 million valuation.
WTSL is run by Patrick Whitesell, according to TheWrap, a former executive at Endeavor, WME and TKO. For Unwell, which Cooper founded in 2023 with co-founder Matt Kaplan, this is the first ever external capital. Until now the company had grown only from its own revenue.
What Unwell runs
Unwell is no longer just one podcast. Around Call Her Daddy it has grown into a network of more than twelve shows with millions of daily listeners. Partnerships with YouTube and SiriusXM, live events and tours, streaming productions for Hulu, Disney+ and Netflix, and a range of consumer goods from energy drinks to hydration sachets are added on top. The firm sells its own advertising through its in-house division, Unwell Creative Agency.
The audience is narrowly profiled. According to TheWrap, women make up 89% of it, and 72% of people are aged 18 to 35. Across platforms the company reports almost 100 million followers. This concentration of a young female audience is exactly what the investor is buying.
Where the new capital will go
Cooper wants to use the money for acquisitions and investments in intellectual property, talent and other companies, with a focus on creative agencies and infrastructure for a female audience. Whitesell expects the pair to read the market well. “Alex, Matt and the team have demonstrated an exceptional ability to anticipate where audiences are headed and create entertainment experiences that resonate deeply,” he said, according to TheWrap.
The investment goes into building a holding company that will buy smaller players itself. The creator is moving from the role of talent to that of buyer.
The context of creator investment
The valuation places Unwell in the wider picture of money flowing to creators. Companies built around creators raised about $497 million in the first seven months of the year, and most of it went to one large round for AI music company Suno. Unwell's valuation alone comes close to the entire sum that flowed into the segment in those seven months. Investors place small bets on many creators and concentrate big money on a few names with their own audience and revenue.
From licences to buying companies
In recent years podcasters have mostly negotiated over who would distribute their show. Jay Shetty and others keep their rights and sell platforms only a time-limited licence. Cooper goes a step further. Instead of selling access to her audience, she is using outside capital to buy other companies.
The same direction is taken by Steven Bartlett, who is building a technology-focused company around The Diary of a CEO and poaching people from large firms. The investor who once represented Hollywood stars at Endeavor is now writing a cheque to a creator who built her company around a single podcast. Money that once flowed to studios and agencies is moving to individuals with an audience.
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