Buyers and Builders How To Raise $159M, Acquire 6 YouTube Channels and Sell To Blackstone For $3B in 3.5 Years
Jun 16, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Alex Prokofjev, co-founder of Rollup Europe and expert in media rollups, delves into the impressive rise of Moonbug Entertainment. He shares how they scaled from zero to $100M EBITDA in just 3.5 years and made a remarkable $3B exit to Candle Media. Topics include the unique cap table design, the pivotal acquisition of Little Baby Bum, and strategies for monetizing children's IP across platforms. Alex also reveals insights on successful deal-making and why Moonbug's model remains unmatched.
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Replicable Playbook: Content To Commerce
- Moonbug used a playbook: systematic content production, merchandising, localization, and licensing.
- The team's industry credibility let them convince creators to sell and join a bigger platform.
Align Incentives With Waterfall Hurdles
- Structure multi-class equity waterfalls with MOIC hurdles to align founder and investor payoffs.
- Expect to give ~20–30% equity to operators when velocity and team quality justify it.
Why Margins Were So High
- High EBITDA margins came from near-zero distribution costs on YouTube and low production costs for animation.
- Licensing (Spotify, Netflix) and music revenues added high-margin income streams.