FOX looks to build creator franchises with investment in Whalar’s Lighthouse

Thanks to companies like Whalar Group, creator campuses are coming back into vogue, and FOX wants in on the action. Through its FOX Advertising wing, the media corporation is making a “strategic investment” in The Lighthouse, Whalar’s network of IRL creator spaces.

FOX announced the Lighthouse funding at the Cannes Lions festival in France. The size of the deal has not been revealed, but FOX is expected to double down on its investment by establishing a creator-facing initiative. The unnamed initiative will focus on IP development by building franchises alongside select creator partners.

In a statement, Lighthouse president Jon Goss dubbed the deal a “defining moment” in the brand’s history. “At FOX, we see the future of entertainment and advertising will be driven by bold culture-shaping IP,” added FOX Advertising Chief Strategy and Operations Officer Stephano Kim. “Our investment in The Lighthouse signals our commitment to building original franchises with visionary Creators who are redefining storytelling and influencing culture in real time.”

Whalar established The Lighthouse in 2023 to equip creators with a long list of services, ranging from studio spaces to career development programs to networking opportunities. The first Lighthouse location opened in January 2025 in Venice, California. A second space, housed inside a former pencil factory in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, is set to open

during the fourth quarter of 2025.

In many ways, The Lighthouse is a successor to the YouTube Spaces, Google-established facilities that popped up across the globe before closing their doors in 2021. In the years since that mass shuttering, the growth of the creator economy has led to rekindled interest in real-life influencer hangouts. Whalar, for example, parlayed its diverse array of creator products into a May 2025 investment that valued the company at $400 million. Kai Cenat’s more irreverent take on a creator campus, Streamer University, drew interest from potential buyers like Amazon before Cenat indicated that he was not interested in a sale.

FOX’s own creator-related ambitions have been growing as well. Its FAST hub Tubi has given it a foothold in the digital ecosystem, and its right-leaning news brand has ranked among YouTube’s most-watched channels in the months following the reelection of Donald Trump. FOX’s February 2025 acquisition of Red Seat Ventures gave it a direct link to some of the loudest political voices on the internet. Now, through The Lighthouse, the massive media firm will forge another connection to influential digital-native voices.