Former England footballer Gary Lineker is broadening his media interests with the launch of Goalhanger Ventures, a new investment arm focused on backing digital content creators, particularly popular YouTube channels. This initiative marks a strategic extension of Goalhanger, the media company Lineker co-founded, which has primarily gained recognition for its successful podcast series such as The Rest Is History and The Rest Is Politics.

Goalhanger Ventures has announced its first equity investment in Invisible Media, a young and rapidly growing digital media company known for its economics and geopolitics channel, The Invisible Hand. Founded by 26-year-old Charlie Tymon, Invisible Media has built a substantial audience since its inception in 2023 by producing detailed video essays that explore global trade, monetary policy, corporate strategy, and power politics. The Invisible Hand channel currently has over 250,000 subscribers and has accumulated more than 35 million views.

The partnership also includes a commercial agreement with Backyard Cricket, a branded content creator focused on cricket, indicating Goalhanger’s broader strategy of investing across diverse media verticals. Goalhanger said its investment in Invisible Media will help accelerate the company’s growth, supporting new content formats such as The Invisible Game, which delves into the economics underlying everyday choices and a variety of industries.

This move signals Goalhanger’s ambition to extend beyond podcasting into emerging digital platforms and start-up media ventures as YouTube continues to attract substantial audiences worldwide. By leveraging its existing media expertise and capital, Goalhanger aims to foster innovative content creators who engage young, digitally native audiences with informative and accessible programming.