A24 got a fresh shot of capital from a new funding round led by Josh Kushner’s New York-based investment firm Thrive Capital, which is known for software and internet investments and previously supported companies like Instagram and Spotify, the companies announced Wednesday.
The studio has seen a roughly 40% increase in value since its first fundraise in 2022, when it had a $2.5 billion valuation after receiving a $225 million investment. In addition to Thrive, A24 received support from existing investors who participated in its last funding round.
TheWrap exclusively reported last fall that A24 was looking to expand its strategy beyond the arthouse fare for which its known and into the commercial space, specially with more IP-driven films and shows. This funding round comes in the wake of the release of “Civil War” in April, A24’s highest-budgeted project yet.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Thrive Capital, whose unique expertise will be invaluable in our growth,” A24 said in a statement. “With Thrive, alongside our existing partners, we look forward to growing our support of groundbreaking storytellers and helping their voices reach audiences around the world.”
Thrive, in a statement of its own, said that A24 matches the firm’s aim of investing in “category-defining businesses across every industry.” The studio, Thrive said, is “ bringing extraordinary talent and creativity together with business model and technology innovation to reinvent entertainment for the modern age.”
In relation to its investment, Thrive founder Josh Kushner — the brother of Jared Kushner and son of real estate developer Charles Kushner — will join A24’s board of directors.
Thrive, which had $16 billion in assets under management as of 2022, was valued at more than $5 billion last year. In addition to being an early investor in Instagram, Twitch and Spotify, Thrive has invested in Airtable and OpenAI.
Founded in 2012 as A24 Films by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel, and John Hodges, A24 has built a library of over 150 films and 50 TV series and received 16 Oscars, 14 Golden Globes and 18 Emmys. Its notable credits include films such as “Civil War,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Moonlight” and “Uncut Gems,” as well as television series like “Euphoria,” “Beef,” “Ramy” and “The Sympathizer.”
A24’s early growth was fueled by the release of 2012’s “Spring Breakers.” In late 2013, the studio entered into deals with DirecTV Cinema and Amazon’s Prime Video, distributing some films through them, and the name was shortened to A24 in 2016.
Upcoming projects include “The Smashing Machine” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt, “High and Low” directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, “We Live in Time” starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, “Heretic” starring Hugh Grant, “Babygirl” starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, “Eddington” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone, Apple TV+’s “Sunny” starring Rashida Jones and Amazon’s “Overcompensating” starring Benito Skinner.
The studio has additionally launched complementary businesses like 2AM, Half Magic and the Cherry Lane theater.
