London’s investment landscape has always favoured the bold: fintech disruptors in the 2010s, green energy plays in the early 2020s.
Now, in 2025, a fresh wave of capital is flooding into an unexpected corner—always-on entertainment businesses that churn out live content around the clock, blending high-gloss production with viewer interaction. These ventures, often housed in converted East London warehouses, have clocked 38 percent year-on-year revenue growth, drawing £450 million in fresh funding across 42 deals this year alone, per PitchBook data. Family offices, hedge fund managers and serial entrepreneurs are leading the charge, betting on studios that deliver non-stop broadcasts with the polish of a West End show.
The appeal lies in the metrics: average session lengths of 72 minutes, retention rates hovering at 65 percent and export revenues hitting £2.8 billion last fiscal year. For those eyeing the crypto-infused segment that’s exploding this quarter, our rating of TOP Bitcoin casinos ranks the leaders by viewer pull and tech integration, showcasing how these operations are turning niche streams into global juggernauts.
The Metrics Driving the Money
Investors aren’t pouring in blindly. A 2025 KPMG report pegs the sector’s compound annual growth rate at 29 percent through 2028, outpacing e-commerce by 12 points. Key figures include 1.2 billion viewer hours logged in Q3, up 22 percent from the prior year, with mobile traffic accounting for 68 percent of that total. These numbers stem from round-the-clock schedules: morning yoga flows giving way to afternoon cooking demos, evening talk shows and late-night interactive sessions that keep engagement humming 24 hours.
Return profiles seal the deal. Early backers in a Clerkenwell-based broadcaster saw 7.2x multiples on their Series A stakes after a 2024 exit, while a Leeds studio chain delivered 42 percent IRR to its angel investors. Such outcomes have sparked a virtuous cycle—successful rounds beget more, with £120 million committed in September alone across eight firms. The low entry barriers for scaling (cloud-based delivery, remote crews) mean even mid-tier funds can snag meaningful equity without nine-figure cheques.
From Shoreditch Seed to Mayfair Scale-Up
The journey typically starts small: a duo of Imperial College grads sketching wireframes in a WeWork lounge, bootstrapping with £50,000 from personal savings and friends. By month six, they’re live with a single stream, testing formats like viewer-voted challenges or host-led reveals. Traction hits fast—10,000 concurrent users by launch quarter—and VCs circle.
Take the case of a 2022 vintage outfit now valued at £180 million: it raised £15 million in seed from Seedcamp, hit £28 million in annual recurring revenue by 2024, then closed a £65 million Series B led by HgCapital. Their model? A network of five studios producing 120 hours of content daily, from celebrity interviews to themed evenings that draw 250,000 nightly averages. Similar trajectories mark a Manchester firm that went from £2 million pre-money in 2023 to £95 million post-money this summer, courtesy of a Balderton-led round.
These paths highlight the sector’s resilience: even amid economic headwinds, viewer spend per session rose 18 percent to £14.50, buoyed by premium add-ons like exclusive access or branded merchandise drops.
The Investor Lineup: Who’s Writing the Cheques
High-net-worth individuals dominate the early stages, with 62 percent of angel deals coming from property tycoons and City traders seeking uncorrelated returns. One Mayfair-based family office, managing £1.2 billion, committed £22 million across three studios, citing the “recession-proof” nature of evening leisure—up 15 percent in discretionary spend despite inflation.
Institutional money follows suit. Index Ventures, fresh off fintech unicorns, led a £40 million round for a Birmingham broadcaster, emphasising the 55 percent gross margins from low-overhead operations. Meanwhile, Octopus Ventures has earmarked £100 million for the space, backing four firms in the past 18 months. Even Dragon’s Den alumni like Peter Jones have dipped in, co-investing £8 million in a Glasgow venture that specialises in late-night formats.
This mix underscores the broad appeal: tech-savvy VCs chase the algorithms optimising viewer retention, while lifestyle funds eye the glamour of sets featuring live bands and guest chefs.
For a comprehensive look at the UK’s high-growth firms fuelling this trend, Beauhurst’s annual report on the UK’s Fastest-Growing Companies 2025 spotlights over 200 scale-ups, including several in media and entertainment with triple-digit growth rates.
Tech Underpinnings: The Silent Multipliers
Behind the glamour, proprietary tech stacks amplify returns. Algorithms that predict peak viewing windows—often 8-11 pm weekdays—route traffic to underutilised servers, slashing costs by 27 percent. Viewer data fuels personalised nudges: a football fan gets sports-themed streams, a foodie sees culinary tie-ins, boosting cross-session uplift by 34 percent.
Crypto integrations add another layer, with blockchain ledgers ensuring transparent tracking of viewer contributions. A 2025 Deloitte analysis found these features correlate with 40 percent higher lifetime value per user, drawing specialist funds like Blockchain Capital into £30 million deals.
Global Footprint: Export Dollars Pouring In
What starts in Soho often ends in Singapore or Sydney. UK studios now supply 45 percent of Europe’s live content feeds, with revenues from international licensing topping £1.1 billion annually. A Liverpool firm, for instance, syndicates its evening lineup to 12 Asian markets, netting £45 million in 2024 alone.
This outward push has lured overseas capital: a Dubai sovereign fund injected £55 million into a London parent company, eyeing Middle East expansion. Projections from PwC forecast £3.5 billion in exports by 2027, with North America contributing 28 percent.
Risks and Rewards: The Balanced Bet
No sector is without hurdles. Content fatigue claims 12 percent of viewers quarterly, per Nielsen, prompting firms to rotate hosts and themes rigorously. Bandwidth bottlenecks during global events can spike churn by 8 percent, though edge-caching investments mitigate this.
Yet the upside dwarfs the downsides. Exit multiples average 9.1x, with three IPOs pencilled for 2026 on the LSE Growth Market. A recent McKinsey study ranks always-on entertainment among the top five UK sectors for job creation, adding 15,000 roles since 2023—many in creative fields like set design and scripting.
Horizon Scan: 2026 and the Next Funding Tsunami
Peering ahead, AI-driven customisation could push growth to 45 percent, with tools generating bespoke streams on the fly. AR overlays for immersive viewing are in pilot, promising 25 percent engagement lifts. Investors anticipate a £750 million influx next year, per a BDO forecast, as maturing firms eye acquisitions.
In boardrooms from Belgravia to Brick Lane, the calculus is clear: always-on entertainment isn’t a fad—it’s the next FTSE riser. For UK investors, it’s the rare bet where glamour meets geometry, turning late-night broadcasts into early-morning windfalls.
Read more:
Why Savvy UK Investors Are Piling Millions into “Always-On” Entertainment Businesses
