Specialist media are reporting that YouTube star Lilly Singh is planning to help South Asian creators leverage their audiences more effectively. Operating through her new venture HYPHEN8, Singh’s goal is to help creators turn content into careers.
HYPHEN8, which she co-founded with Skara Ventures, will help creators secure brand deals, optimise monetisation, and manage advertising opportunites.
Singh launched onto YouTube in 2010 and has built a following of around 14.3 million subscribers. She was also in the vanguard of digital first talent migrating to TV, hosting a late night show for NBC called A Little Late With Lilly Singh.
Speaking to Entrepreneur Magazine, Singh said she wants to provide a kind of mentoring service that wasn’t available when she started out as a creator. “When I began posting on YouTube in 2010, there weren’t many resources to create content, especially for someone that looks like me,” she says.
Singh believes the new venture will appeal to brands, which are increasingly keen to reach South Asians. “There are so many South Asians,” she says in Entrepreneur. “It doesn’t even mean the brand or product has to be South Asian in nature.”
Skara Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investing in and nurturing talent and ideas into profitable businesses. It has built up a strong reputation for backing diverse brands, and led the Series A funding for Indian DTC skincare brand Aavrani.
