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Time Warner invests in Maker Studios
MUMBAI: Online content company, Maker Studios, has raised $36 million in the initial closing of its Series C financing led by Time Warner Investments.
Additional participants include existing investors Greycroft Partners; GRP Partners; Downey Ventures, the investment company for Robert Downey Jr.; Elisabeth Murdoch; Fuel: M+C, the investment company for Jon Miller and Jimmy Yaffe; and Ynon Kreiz, Maker’s chairman; along with new investors which include Daher Capital and Academy Award-winning producer Jon Landau.
Rachel Lam, who heads the Time Warner Investments group, will join the board. The funding will be used to further accelerate Maker’s rapid growth as a global platform for online programming while continuing to build brand and partner relationships.
Maker was founded in 2009 to provide the best environment for artists to create, distribute, and monetize their original content on YouTube. The company recently expanded its multi-vertical approach, focusing on comedy, music, gaming, beauty/fashion and mom’s programming both domestically and internationally, especially in Europe.
It is home to many of online video’s top digital stars and content including KassemG, Nice Peter’s “Epic Rap Battles of History,” the Shaytards, SnoopDogg’s WestFestTV, The Yogscast, The Gregory Brothers, Bad Lip Reading and Mike Tompkins, among many others.
“We’re extremely excited and grateful to have the support of Time Warner and our other investment partners, who are some of the most respected names in media and entertainment, and are thrilled that we will be able to provide even more resources and opportunities to our valued network partners,” said Maker Studios co-founder and CEO Danny Zappin.
“We founded Maker because, as YouTube content creators ourselves, we recognized there was a need for a new type of studio and network that could support artists on any platform. We remain committed to providing the best possible environment for creators and look forward to further expanding our offerings to our extremely talented partners around the globe.”
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
