Goalhanger launches venture arm to back creator-led media startups

Goalhanger is backing the next generation of media creators with the launch of a new investment division, Goalhanger Ventures.

The UK podcast group, which is behind hit shows including The Rest is Politics and The Rest is History, said the new arm will invest in businesses across video, social, audio, live experiences and commercial platforms.

Goalhanger Ventures launches with two deals already secured: an equity investment in Invisible Media Group – the business behind economics and geopolitics platform The Invisible Hand – and a commercial partnership with Backyard Cricket.

The Invisible Hand has built an audience around explainer-led content covering macroeconomics, business and geopolitics, primarily through YouTube.

Backyard Cricket, a YouTube channel known for informal cricket matches and challenge videos, has built an audience of more than 260,000 subscribers.

Charlie Tymon, founder of Invisible Media Group, said the partnership would help accelerate the company’s YouTube-first growth strategy.

“Through this investment, we’ll be able to draw on Goalhanger’s expertise in building, scaling and monetising industry-leading IP as we grow a brilliantly aligned, YouTube-first business with huge potential,” he said.

Navid Behroozi, executive producer at Backyard Cricket, said the partnership would help turn the channel’s audience growth into a sustainable long-term business.

“By giving them more production support and helping open up new commercial opportunities, we can let them spend more time doing what their audience comes for – creating brilliant cricket entertainment,” he said.

Goalhanger co-founder Jack Davenport said the venture arm is designed to give creators the infrastructure to “grow without losing what made them special in the first place.”

Founded in 2014 by Gary Lineker, Tony Pastor and Davenport, Goalhanger has grown into one of the UK’s biggest independent podcast companies, expanding rapidly alongside the boom in creator-led and subscription-based media.

The company surpassed 250,000 paid subscribers earlier this year, while its shows were streamed more than 750m times in 2025.

The launch of Goalhanger Ventures follows a broader expansion push at the business. Earlier this year, Goalhanger launched its creator incubator programme, The Accelerator, and announced a series of senior hires including former AudioUK chief executive Chloe Straw as director of operations.