With its latest move, Bent Pixels is setting its sights on short-form hubs like Snapchat. The creator-facing business has acquired Sunny State Agency (SSA), a company that specializes in publishing and content syndication.
According to a press release, the deal is valued at “over $23 million.” All SSA employees will join the combined company, which will be led by Bent Pixels Founder and CEO Mike Pusateri (pictured above, left). SSA Founder and CEO Shady Dnaf (pictured above, right) will join the Bent Pixels Board of Directors.
Bent Pixels, which was founded in 2009, has a long track record when it comes to advancing creator careers. Dating back to the MCN era, the Culver City-based firm has built a roster that covers more than 800 creator channels, including notables like Topper Guild, Matthew Beem, and Ninja. The services it provides for those creators range from ad sales to infrastructure to data solutions.
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The Bent Pixels website notes that “YouTube is where the creator economy lives and where audiences engage most,” but its SSA acquisition will allow it to scale up its operations on other platforms as well. SSA’s monetization and distribution capabilities reach hubs like Facebook, TikTok, and MSN, but its primary specialty is Snapchat. That’s where its creator roster — a group that includes NikkieTutorials, WhistlinDiesel, and Steve-O — hauls in more than three billion monthly views. With more than 80 Snapchat Shows under its umbrella, SSA ranks as one of the app’s top five global publishers.
“This acquisition marks a major milestone in Bent Pixels’ global growth strategy,” Pusateri said in a statement. “SSA has built real scale in short-form distribution, especially on Snapchat. We’ve built the sales engine, data layer, and brand relationships to monetize that scale. Bringing those together is the point. This positions us to lead creator media across platforms, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
In a statement of his own, Dnaf described the deal as an “exciting next chapter for Sunny State.” The two companies have independently built up strong rosters across multiple continents, and working together, they plan to form a powerful global force in the creator economy.
