Private equity firm Livingbridge takes majority stake of Jungle Creations

London-based Jungle Creations was founded in 2014 by Jamie Bolding and is run by co-chief execs Melissa Chapman and Nat Poulter. Specializing in the creation, production and distribution of social media content, the company is known for its special interest brands, namely Twisted, VT, Four Nine, Craft Factory, Level Fitness, Lovimals and Blue Crate.

Jungle Studios, the company’s branded content arm, also produces campaigns for clients such as Baileys, GSK and Mondelez. The firm’s interests also extend to The Wild, a social-first creative agency responsible for leveraging in-house data and insights to inform social campaigns for brands including Heinz, Major League Baseball and Silverspoon.

This activity brought the business to the attention of Livingbridge, which is providing capital via its Enterprise 3 fund to turbocharge Jungle’s growth with the launch of new brands, extra content and international growth.

Welcoming the investment, Vernan Richards, associate director at Livingbridge, said: “Jungle has demonstrated a consistent ability to create content that resonates with a large audience globally across multiple social platforms and verticals. In the current landscape, access to these audiences has become a valuable commodity for brands as they seek to target gen Z and millennial audiences.”

In 2020 Jungle recorded its most profitable year to date with revenues of £19.3m and profits of £2.5m, a performance that is set to be eclipsed this year amid an expectation that revenues could jump to £30m, generating a profit of £5.5m.

Bolding stood down as chief executive at the beginning of the year, passing day-to-day management of the business to Chapman and Poulter.