Los Angeles, CA – Corridor Capital announced today the acquisition of a controlling interest in Create & Cultivate, LLC (“C&C” or the “Company”) in a transaction valued at up to $22 million to support the Company’s strong growth trajectory and dedication to delivering career-related impactful events, information and networking for women. This is the firm’s fifth platform investment from Corridor Capital III, L.P. and Corridor’s fourth foray in the marketing and media services segment.
C&C is a Los Angeles, CA based experiential and digital media company fostering a community of ambitious women looking to create and cultivate the career of their dreams. The Company, led by Founder and CEO Jaclyn Johnson, provides in-person and virtual proprietary and brand-sponsored bespoke events catering to career-oriented millennial women. C&C engages its community online through high-quality content and educational material via the Company’s website, social media, podcast, newsletter and membership program.
The Company has grown rapidly since its inception, driven by C&C’s differentiated service offerings, customer service and visionary team. Jaclyn brought on board Neha Kumar as COO in 2018, to help grow and scale the business and she has served as a major force in getting the company to this milestone. C&C experienced exponential growth in its digital offering since the beginning of the pandemic as the Company doubled down on its digital audience, hosting monthly summits and virtual events that saw tens of thousands of global attendees with brand partners such as Mastercard, Madewell, Apple TV, Amazon & many more. Combining C&C’s leadership with Corridor’s deep strategic, operational, and financial support, the Company is poised to rapidly expand its business in proprietary in-person and virtual events, membership and media.
The leadership team, inclusive of Jaclyn, Neha and General Manager Samantha Oullette, will remain with the business in their current roles and are excited to partner with Corridor to accelerate the Company’s growth. Moreover, Jaclyn will remain a material owner of the business.
“I have been extremely impressed with Jaclyn and the C&C team, and share an unyielding commitment to supporting the amazing women in our workforce as they seek to expand their horizons and live their best professional lives. We see in Create & Cultivate a market leader providing high quality virtual and in-real-life experiences, interactions, learnings and opportunities for women,” said Craig Enenstein, Founder of Corridor Capital. “We strive to align with talented leaders and since 2014, 40 percent of the companies backed by Corridor have been led by women CEOs with many more women in those companies’ C-suites. We have had the privilege of working with amazing female leaders across an array of industries and look forward to allying with Jaclyn, Neha, Sam and the entire C&C team to bring even more experiences and services to the C&C audience and its sponsors.”
“This new chapter with Corridor is the natural next step for Create & Cultivate. We’ve been growing aggressively since inception and with this new partnership we are able to fast track our plans on becoming the largest media company by women for women,” added Jaclyn Johnson, Founder & CEO, Create & Cultivate. “Create & Cultivate’s mission is to entertain, inspire & educate women on how to create & cultivate the career of their dreams. This mission has taken on even more meaning in a COVID-19 world where women are leaving the workforce in droves due to lack of child care resources and female-owned small businesses are shutting down at rapid pace. Create & Cultivate has become the go-to resource for millions of women looking to navigate this time through mentorship, content and experiences that educate and provide advice from experts, CEOs, content creators and celebrities at the forefront of their industries. With Corridor’s partnership, we aspire to drive broader and more comprehensive engagement for our audience.
True West Capital Partners, a private investment firm which provides flexible capital to middle-market companies in the U.S., provided debt and equity financing in support of the investment. This marks True West’s second such facility alongside Corridor Capital.
Access Media Advisory LLC performed investment banking services for C&C. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP served as legal advisor to the Company. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius served as legal advisor to Corridor. Duff & Phelps provided Corridor with financial diligence support.
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