Content Creation Firm Patreon Acquires Tech Recruiting Company

Patreon, an 8-year-old content creation platform that’s helped its users generate a combined $2 billion, has acquired technology recruiting firm Clear Talent, according to a Tuesday (Aug. 31) Reuters report.

Spawned by a YouTube musician-turned-entrepreneur and his college roommate, the Patreon platform charges fans a monthly membership fee to access exclusive content — music, videos, podcasts, art and more — from a member’s favorite creative contributors, according to the company’s website. More than 200,000 creators provide content for the platform’s 6 million monthly active members, with subscribers essentially paying creators to access their content, according to Patreon.

The purchase of New York-based Clear Talent will allow Patreon to grow its staff by 40 and marks a four-fold increase of the company’s recruiting team, according to Reuters. The objective is to nearly double from roughly 300 employees to 500 while expanding the engineering and product teams to encompass other money-generating additions for creators, including eCommerce sales, according to the report.

While Patreon was an early adopter of subscription-based models allowing creators to earn profits, other companies have since jumped on the bandwagon. In May, Twitter debuted its Twitter Blue subscription service, according to PYMNTS. Like Patreon, the Twitter subscription model offers exclusive access and special features for users who pay for the monthly service.  Users can undo tweets, bundle their favorite tweets in a collection, among other offerings.

Read more: Twitter Adds Subscription Purchase Option To App Store Listing

Google too joined the subscription model, launching an ad-free app experience in 2019, according to Reuters. Google rebranded itself Alphabet Inc. in 2015. While the name never really stuck, Google appears to be reaping the benefits of the reorganization, which puts YouTube — and its 46 percent year-over-year increase — under the tech giant’s expansive umbrella. According to PYMNTS, the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 revenues surged about 23 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2019.

See also: Alphabet’s Revenues Jump 23 Pct Amid Spike In Advertising