Goalhanger reveals first Accelerator cohort, including The Receipts founder and Sophia Smith Galer

Goalhanger has revealed the first cohort of creators selected for its Accelerator incubator, with six chosen from hundreds of applications.

The group includes journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer, The Receipts Podcast founder Tolani Shoneye, politics and history creator Tom Nicholas, satirist and writer Cody Dahler, actress and comedy writer Andrea Valls, and historian and author Dr Eliza Filby.

Each creator will receive up to £10,000 in production investment, access to Goalhanger's advertising inventory across podcast, YouTube, newsletter and paid media channels, and hands-on support across audience growth, production, brand partnerships and long-form intellectual property development.

"The Accelerator is not about handing over a cheque and sending people on their way, nor is it about forcing creators into a Goalhanger template," said Jack Davenport, co-founder of Goalhanger. "It is about giving them access to the experience, infrastructure and commercial support we have built, while protecting the thing that made audiences respond to them in the first place."

Nicole Logan, executive producer of development at Goalhanger, said the selection process had focused on creators who understood both their audiences and their own creative direction.

"The Accelerator gives them time, structure and hands-on support to develop that properly: refining formats, building teams, testing new approaches and thinking more ambitiously about how their creative business can scale," she said.

The Accelerator launched in March as a three-month incubator designed to support creators with funding, mentorship and access to Goalhanger's senior editorial and commercial teams. Participants also receive a first-look deal for long-form IP development.

Founded in 2014 by Gary Lineker, Tony Pastor and Jack Davenport, Goalhanger has grown into one of the UK's largest independent podcast companies, generating more than 750 million full-episode streams in 2025 and surpassing 250,000 paying subscribers.

The programme sits alongside Goalhanger Ventures, a separate investment arm launched in May to back creator-led media businesses. Its first investments included economics platform The Invisible Hand and cricket channel Backyard Cricket.