H.I.G. Capital Buys Jake Rosen Entertainment to Build Creator Roll-Up

H.I.G. Capital, a private equity firm with $76 billion under management, has launched a creator-economy acquisition platform called Waveborn and bought its first asset: the talent management firm Jake Rosen Entertainment. Terms weren't disclosed. That gap matters — the deal's size is the one number that would tell us how serious this bet really is.

The move comes through H.I.G. Small-Cap & Growth. The plan is a roll-up (buying several companies and combining them under one platform) spanning brand relationships, content production, and creator monetization. H.I.G. and JRE named Whalar Group as the model: an agency-plus-talent-plus-tech business valued at $400 million in 2025 before selling its agency to Accenture Song earlier this year. No war-chest figure was given. The comparison sets the ambition; it doesn't guarantee the outcome.

Why is a PE giant buying now?

The market context is the pitch. US creator ad spending is set to hit $44 billion this year and has grown four times as fast as media overall, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Eric Tencer, managing director of H.I.G. Growth, said the data plus personal experience drove his conviction.

"I've got a 10th grader and a 7th grader at home, and I've been fighting a losing battle around, 'Why don't you just watch normal TV or movies,' and they go straight to TikTok and Instagram," he said.

H.I.G.'s thesis: the ecosystem serving brands and creators is fragmented, and creators now run complex businesses that need more expertise. Tencer said the firm picked a talent management agency first because putting creators at the core would shape the growth road map. Future acquisitions will bolt onto JRE, which manages a roster of 400 mid-tier to macro lifestyle creators.

"I never want one of our creators to leave us for a different agency because they say, 'I want to go to them because you're not able to offer X services,'" said Jake Rosen, JRE's founder.

Rosen argues the middle of the market is where the money sits.

"A lot of brands on the high side do not want to risk their entire budget on one mega creator," he said. "On the other end, yes, a lot of people are seeing success with micro, smaller creators, but it's a lot on the brand and agency to have 100 creators on a campaign."

How big is PE's role so far?

Small, but growing. PE firms have mainly entered by backing or creating acquirers such as Fixated (funded by Eldridge Industries) and Wonderloom Media (backed by Content Partners), said James Creech, founder of the advisory firm Quartermast, which wasn't involved in the JRE deal. That mirrors H.I.G.'s structure.

There's a reason PE arrived late. Creator companies haven't traditionally met private equity's thresholds for size and maturity, and strategic buyers — ad holding companies, talent agencies — often outbid PE. Rosen, who founded 25-employee JRE in 2019, ran a sales process earlier this year and chose PE over corporate buyers who, he said, wanted him to adapt to their processes.

"Having a seat at the table, and to be able to have that voice for the future, was something that was really important to me," he said.

Creech expects more deals like this one.

"Other private equities have the same thesis," he said. "There are growth equity players who want to buy a core business, put in more capital to fuel expansion. It reflects the continued maturation of the space."

The numbers back him on volume, at least. 2026 is the busiest period on record for the sector, with 118 creator-economy deals so far versus 93 in all of 2025, per Quartermast Advisors. Whether Waveborn becomes Whalar or a bolt-on graveyard, the sector's consolidation phase has formally begun.