Slow Ventures backs Steven Bartlett at $425 million valuation to help the business podcaster build a bigger brand

Steven Bartlett just landed a big payday that will help him turn his media company into a nearly half-billion-dollar business. Bartlett, the host of the popular Diary of a CEO podcast, has closed a major investment led by Slow Ventures and Apeiron Investment Group.

The exact size of the investment hasn’t been made public, but Podnews describes the capital injection as an “eight-figure” deal that comes with a $425 million valuation attached to it. That estimate applies to Steven.com, the holding company that unites Bartlett’s growing network of ventures and channels.

An investment described as “Europe’s biggest ever creator holding company fundraising round” is somewhat out of the ordinary for Slow, a firm known for its early-stage deals. Slow’s activity in the creator activity has seen it target individual creators who are looking to build businesses in what the firm describes as “high-value verticals.”

By targeting eclectic creators like bookworm John Fish and woodworker Jonathan Katz-Moses, Slow showed that it would not limit its $60 million Creator Fund to the biggest categories on platforms like YouTube. With its investment in London-based Bartlett, however, it can target both a high-value vertical and one that is drawing more eyeballs as creators like MrBeast and Rhett & Link flex their entrepreneurial muscles.

Bartlett’s “curiosity, authenticity, and relentless pursuit of growth have made him one of the most influential voices in modern entrepreneurship and personal development,” Slow Investor Megan Lightcap wrote in the firm’s Slow Upload newsletter. “Through Diary of a CEO, his Behind the Diary channel, and constant speaking engagements and live events, he’s cultivated a deeply loyal community committed to building a happier, more expansive and successful life by applying lessons from the world’s most accomplished figures.”

Now flush with capital, Bartlett will be able to renew his resources as he continues to push his personal brand outward. He has taken a leading role for Flightcast, a video podcast distribution service enhanced with generative AI features. In the U.K., Bartlett has also been seen as an investor on Dragon’s Den, the British equivalent of Shark Tank.

Bartlett already works with many top creators through his FlightStory media arm. If he continues on his current trajectory, he’ll soon become the star CEO dispensing business acumen on a hit podcast.