London’s investment landscape has always favored the bold: fintech disruptors in the 2010s, green energy in the early 2020s.
Now, in 2025, a new wave of capital is flowing into an unexpected corner – always-on entertainment companies that produce live content around the clock, combining glossy production with audience engagement. These companies, often housed in converted warehouses in east London, have seen sales grow 38 percent year-on-year and have attracted £450 million in new funding through 42 deals this year alone, according to PitchBook data. Family offices, hedge fund managers and serial entrepreneurs are leading the way, relying on studios to deliver non-stop programming with the sheen of a West End show.
The appeal lies in the metrics: average session lengths of 72 minutes, retention rates of 65 percent and export revenue of £2.8 billion in the last financial year. For those keeping an eye on the crypto-infused segment that’s exploding this quarter, our review of the TOP Bitcoin casinos ranks the frontrunners by audience appeal and technology integration, and shows how these operations are turning niche streams into global juggernauts.
The metrics that determine money
Investors are not flocking in blindly. A 2025 KPMG report puts the sector’s average annual growth rate at 29 percent through 2028, exceeding that of e-commerce by 12 percentage points. Key figures include 1.2 billion viewing hours in the third quarter, up 22 percent year over year, with mobile traffic accounting for 68 percent of that total. These numbers come from 24/7 schedules: morning yoga flows, afternoon cooking demonstrations, evening talk shows, and late-night interactive sessions that keep engagement going around the clock.
Returns profiles seal the deal. Early backers of a Clerkenwell-based broadcaster recorded a 7.2x multiple on their Series A shares following an exit in 2024, while a Leeds studio chain delivered a 42 per cent IRR to its angel investors. Such results have set in motion a virtuous cycle – successful rounds breed more, with £120m committed across eight companies in September alone. The low barriers to entry for scaling (cloud-based delivery, remote crews) mean that even mid-market funds can raise significant equity without nine-figure checks.
From Shoreditch Seed to Mayfair Scale-Up
The journey usually starts small: a duo of Imperial College graduates sketch wireframes in a WeWork lounge, dipping into £50,000 from personal savings and friends. In the sixth month, they’re live with a single stream, testing formats like viewer-voted challenges or host-led reveals. Demand sets in quickly – 10,000 concurrent users by launch quarter – and the VCs are circling.
Take the case of a 2022 vintage company now valued at £180m: it raised £15m in seeds from Seedcamp, achieved annual recurring revenue of £28m by 2024, and then closed a £65m Series B led by HgCapital. Your model? A network of five studios producing 120 hours of content daily, from celebrity interviews to themed nights, attracting an average of 250,000 nights. Similar developments have characterized a Manchester company which has gone from £2m pre-funding in 2023 to £95m post-funding this summer thanks to a funding round led by Balderton.
These developments underline the resilience of the sector: despite the economic headwinds, audience spend per session increased by 18 per cent to £14.50, driven by premium add-ons such as exclusive access or branded merchandise drops.
The investor lineup: Who writes the checks?
In the early stages, high net worth individuals dominate, with 62 percent of angel deals coming from real estate tycoons and urban traders seeking uncorrelated returns. A Mayfair-based family office managing £1.2bn invested £22m in three studios, citing the “recession-proofing” of evening leisure – a 15 per cent rise in discretionary spending despite inflation.
Institutional funds are following suit. Index Ventures, a fledgling fintech unicorn, led a £40m round for a Birmingham broadcaster, highlighting its 55% gross margin from operating with low overheads. Meanwhile, Octopus Ventures has committed £100m to the space, backing four companies in the last 18 months. Even Dragon’s Den alumni like Peter Jones have pitched in, investing £8 million in a Glasgow company specializing in late-night formats.
This mix underscores the broad appeal: tech-savvy VCs chase the algorithms that optimize audience engagement, while lifestyle funds eye the glamor of sets with live bands and guest chefs.
For a comprehensive look at the high-growth UK companies driving this trend, Beauhurst’s annual report on the UK’s fastest growing companies 2025 highlights over 200 scaleups, including several in the media and entertainment industry with triple-digit growth rates.
Technical basics: The silent multipliers
Behind the glamour, proprietary technology stacks increase returns. Algorithms that predict peak time slots – often between 8pm and 11pm on weekdays – route traffic to underutilized servers, reducing costs by 27 percent. Viewer data provides personalized prompts: a soccer fan receives sports-themed streams, a foodie sees culinary connections, increasing cross-session increases by 34 percent.
Crypto integrations add another layer, with blockchain ledgers ensuring transparent tracking of viewer contributions. A 2025 Deloitte analysis found that these features correlate with a 40 percent higher lifetime value per user, enticing specialist funds like Blockchain Capital into £30 million deals.
Global Footprint: Export dollars pour in
What begins in Soho often ends in Singapore or Sydney. UK studios now deliver 45 per cent of live content feeds in Europe, with international licensing revenues topping £1.1 billion a year. A Liverpool company, for example, is syndicating its evening programming to twelve Asian markets, generating net revenue of £45 million in 2024 alone.
This outward push has attracted foreign capital: a Dubai sovereign wealth fund invested £55 million in a London parent company as it looks to expand in the Middle East. PwC forecasts predict exports of 3.5 billion pounds by 2027, with North America contributing 28 percent.
Risks and Rewards: The Balanced Bet
No sector is without hurdles. According to Nielsen, content fatigue reaches 12 percent of viewers quarterly, prompting companies to rigorously rotate presenters and topics. Bandwidth bottlenecks during global events can increase churn by 8 percent, although edge caching investments can mitigate this.
But the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Exit multiples average 9.1x, with three IPOs planned on the LSE Growth Market in 2026. According to a recent McKinsey study, always-on entertainment is one of the top five job creating sectors in the UK. 15,000 new jobs have been added since 2023 – many of them in creative areas such as set design and scripts.
Horizon Scan: 2026 and the next financing tsunami
In the future, AI-driven customization could increase growth to 45 percent, with tools generating tailored streams on the fly. AR overlays for immersive viewing are in the pilot phase and promise to increase engagement by 25 percent. Investors expect an inflow of £750 million next year as maturing companies eye acquisitions, according to a BDO forecast.
In boardrooms from Belgravia to Brick Lane, the calculation is clear: always-on entertainment is not a fad – it is the next FTSE up-and-comer. For British investors, it’s the rare bet where glamor meets geometry and late-night shows become early-morning bonanzas.
