We've been telling you something was coming. Today, we start showing you what it looks like.
The Brand-Creator Summit — taking place November 18, 2026 at the People Inc. Event Center in New York City — just got its first lineup announcement.
On the program: leaders from UTA, Google, Mastercard, IAB, Questus, Huckberry, Oatly, Edgewell Personal Care, Whalar, RAD Amplify, and Consumable. Alongside artist Shantell Martin and creators Nimay Ndolo and Angwi Tacho. And this is just the first wave — more names are coming.
One day. One room. The room no other forum in the brand-creator economy assembles.
Tickets are on sale now at events.aivanta.io.
Trending The Market
Slow Ventures Puts Money Into Creator Cults
Courtesy of Will Lasry, Erin McGoff, and Kyle Lee
VC firm Slow Ventures took equity stakes in three niche creators who use social media fame as a way to boost their businesses.
The Big Pitch: While there’s a certain class of top creators that can attract any VC firm, institutional investors, or PE vehicle, Slow Ventures is betting that creators who command highly-engaged “cults” of followers have the ability to maintain sustainable businesses powered by their content.
The Fine Print: Slow Ventures’ $64 million fund to support “creators with ambitions to build companies tailor-made for their passionate communities” has been very active since launching in February 2025.
It recently invested in Gen Z career coach Erin McGoff ($1.5 million), textile manufacturing expert Will Lasry ($2.5 million), and commercial fisherman Kyle Lee (somewhere between $1 million and $3 million).
Prior to that, it wrote checks for Diary of a CEO creator Steven Bartlett, physiotherapist Tayla Cannon, woodworker Jonathan Katz-Moses, and car channel VINwiki.
The firm plans to spend the entirety of its fund in the next three years.
The Analysis: Slow Ventures co-founder Sam Lessin told AdWeek that each of the creators it has invested in are central “nodes” in their respective industries whose virality is a means to and end — their businesses. The fund is meant to encourage that commercial instinct, typically taking a 15% or 20% stake of whatever the creator owns in their holding company (which can oversee several businesses). That structure allows for continued outside investment — a win-win for all involved.
Slow Ventures is providing a blueprint for how any company should be thinking about their relationship with creators — even if not a literal business partnership. Thinking about a creator’s long-term commercial ambitions can inform how to best optimize a collaboration.
Together with Consumable
Audio For The Outcomes Era
Most media plans treat audio as a few line items: a streaming buy, maybe a podcast sponsorship. But the audio ecosystem is far bigger than that… and much of it is going untouched.
Mobile apps, addressable podcast audiences, and creator-led content extended across platforms — these are spaces where attention is intentional and trust already exists.
Consumable opens up that ecosystem.
The tool helps you reach 210M+ Comscore-verified monthly users across formats and channels.
It’s powered by listener intelligence, precision targeting, and modern identity infrastructure.
Every audio impression is measurable, addressable, and tied to real outcomes.
Consumable lets brands reach audiences wherever they listen, with the same precision and accountability marketers expect from their best digital channels.
Through immersive ad experiences that combine audio, visuals, and interactivity, brands can finally turn listening into engagement and business impact.
Building The Stack
GoPuff Orders Up A Partnership With Druski
Delivery platform GoPuff has elected to expand its relationship with comedy content-creator Druski with a multi-year partnership. More than just a marketing deal, Druski is being brought in to “unveil new products, provide new consumer experiences for his audience, and broaden the reach of the company through Coulda Been Records and 4Lifers Entertainment, per Tubefilter. The comedian is also being given an equity stake in GoPuff, demonstrating just how integral their relationship is becoming to the company’s bottom line.
Mark Rober’s Class Crunchlabs Gets An Investment From Google
We told you here that science influencer Mark Rober was building a STEM curriculum that he poured his own money into. Having already attracted several blue-chip sponsors, Rober is getting another infusion of cash — Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the tech giant, has committed $2.5 million to the venture. Soon, watching creator videos may be part of public-school classrooms nationwide.
TikTok Shows Off Its Advertising Power
At this year’s Advertising Week New York, TikTok announced a slate of new features that could reshape brands’ relationship with the platform. There’s a new AI chatbot for Shop called “Shopping Assistant,” there’s an in-app checkout system called “Buy Direct,” and another tool called “Agentic Leads” uses AI to bring brands closer to potential customers. In other words, TikTok is getting serious about competing with Google and Meta for ad dominance.
Have you considered collaborating with a creator’s business?
Social Updates
Threads is surfacing posts that generate conversation with a new badge called “Gems.”
X is expanding its “Gametime” hub to the MLB.
Twitch is deepening its relationship with Amazon by introducing a “Shopping” category.
Bluesky is rolling out custom web domains for its users.
Wrapping Up
The room is taking shape. The first wave of speakers is out. More announcements are coming, and the room fills as they do.
If you've been waiting to see who shows up before committing — now you have a reason. Tickets are available now at events.aivanta.io.
Back next week with the signal.
— The Authentic Team