This report is a partnership between WrapPRO and PitchBook, the go-to financial data and software platform that provides detailed information on private and public capital markets.
August saw venture capital raises in media and entertainment startups and young companies exceed $7 billion for the year, according to new PitchBook data, with AI and the creators spaces still drawing big investor interest.
The month-over-month funding is still not pacing ahead of recent years. The $7 billion figure may seem high for 2025 but it was skewed by a single raise in January of $3 billion by Infinite Reality, which bought the brand name of the former Napster file sharing company to use immersive technologies to offer a suite of services to brands and creators to increase audience engagement.
August’s raises in media and entertainment topped $360 million, slightly more than what was raised in the same month last year. Video gaming-related startups as well as software companies, many focused on AI technologies, continue to top the list of media and entertainment startups receiving investments. Here are a few highlighted companies — with a full chart of the top 15 financings below.
Showrunner — $50 million
Amazon invested what PitchBook says is $50 million in Showrunner, the San Francisco startup behind the viral unauthorized “South Park” AI episodes, launching what the CEO of its parent Fable Studio, Edward Saatchi, calls “the Netflix of AI.”
For research purposes, Showrunner created an AI-version of “South Park” in 2022 (Paramount, as well as show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, did not participate), and didn’t intend for them to go public. Still, The Wrap reported that the AI “South Park” episodes Showrunner created have since been viewed more than 80 million times, the company said.
The platform debuted on July 30 its first original show, “Exit Valley,” an animated satire of the Silicon Valley elite. No viewership data is available yet. The show, a “Family Guy”-style satirical comedy that pokes fun at tech execs like Elon Musk and Sam Altman who live in “Sim Francisco,” is rolling out with 22 episodes in its first season, made by Fable and other episodes made by users and selected by a jury of filmmakers and creatives.
Showrunner offers users the ability to generate entire television shows, create episodes of existing ones and even insert themselves and their friends into scenes. Saatchi, who once helped lead digital strategy for the Obama presidential campaigns, said the future of streaming is one where audiences are participating, not just viewing.
Shrapnel — $19.5 million
Neon Machine, the Seattle-based studio behind the Web3 shooter game Shrapnel, secured on Aug. 13 a $19.5 million investment in two funding rounds, led by Gala Games with participation from existing investors Griffin Gaming Partners and Polychain Capital.
Web3 technologies such as blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are being used in increasing areas. Unlike traditional games, Web3-based games are growing increasingly popular because they allow players to truly own, trade and sometimes earn from in-game assets, with blockchain technology used to authenticate those items and give them real value.
The investment will help Shrapnel with a global rollout, which will include entering the Chinese market for the first time.
Nexstar Leads August M&A With Tegna Deal
August was a pretty sleepy month for mergers and acquisitions in media and entertainment other than Nexstar making a play for Tegna for $6.2 billion, according to PitchBook data. The rest of the top deals, many in broadcast, were miniscule by comparison, including a U.S. bankruptcy court judge approving Christian radio group Gateway Creative Consulting’s $8.75 million purchase of the broadcast license and tower of St. Louis community radio station KDHX.
The larger Nexstar deal reflects the opportunities for a rollup in local broadcast TV stations that TheWrap wrote about in June.
Here’s a full list of the top August M&A deals.
How the year is looking in VC deal activity
And in media …
