Looking for the Upside: YouTube creators seek ventures to grow

The Sidemen online collective has built a business empire that shows the coming financial power of the 'creator economy',

- Barney Macintyre

Tony Blair famously targeted “Mondeo Man”, the working-class voter from Essex. The Sidemen like to quip about reaching a different demographic: “Barry from Stockport”, who “loves a night out with the boys”.

Any group of mates in their late 20s and early 30s have inside jokes. But as Europe’s largest YouTube creator collective, the Sidemen are unique in having built a business empire sharing them with 150 million followers across social media in videos that have had more than 50bn views.

"There are people who drive Amazon trucks who might not love what they do every day, who might not have a beautiful relationship with their parents, but on Sundays they laugh when we release our stuff," said Victor Bengtsson, who became the collective's managing director in 2023.

Churning out content for Barry has its limits, though. Since the Sidemen emerged in 2013, they have matured, striking out with side projects including a chicken shop chain, a vodka brand, a sold-out charity football match at Wembley and, most recently, a reality show deal with Netflix.

This year, the group, which includes Olajide “KSI” Olatunji and Harry “W2S” Lewis, launched a venture capital fund - Upside VC - with the express aim of bolstering startups that streamline content creation.