About Juice Funds Refresh

On December 1st, Creative Juice launched new and improved funding options for creators, Juice Funds Refresh. Juice Funds Refresh provides creators access to personalized, up-front funding without a long-term commitment. 

It’s not uncommon for creators to be locked into a 5+ year deal with brands or feel pressure to sell their content to make ends meet and cover business expenses. Creative Juice addresses this problem by giving creators access to cash personalized to their needs, which may include money for upgraded equipment or long-term funding to create a merch line. 

Through Creative Juice, creators have the flexibility to receive funding on a monthly or yearly basis. Creators can buy out at any time, no questions asked, while remaining in control of their content. The Juice Funds Refresh is the first-of-its-kind program, allowing creators of any size monthly funding on their terms. 

The Creators Partnerships and Investments Team at Creative Juice

Today, we speak with Dustin Blank, the Leader of Creator Partnerships and Investments at Creative Juice, about the new and improved funding opportunities for creators and the creator economy. Dustin Blank has a background in media, with experience working at huge companies like NBC, Fox, Disney, and MGM. His experience at these companies was primarily on monetization, helping traditional creators make money from licensing and distribution deals for their content. Later, he shifted his focus to content creators and began working for Creative Juice. 

He shares, “What I saw as the most interesting thing in storytelling right now was this new creator economy and what creators of all shapes and sizes, no matter how big or small, are able to connect with audiences around the world, but also making a living from it, so I became very excited about Creative Juice’s mission, which is to provide financial tools and funding and investment capital to creators.”

Dustin explains that the funding process involves getting on the phone with creators and speaking with them about their dreams and how funding could help them achieve their goals. Creative Juice provides funding for many types of creators, including YouTubers, Patreon creators, and TikTok creators. 

Juice Funds Refresh & Reserve

Creative Juice’s product Reserve offers capital to creators over one, two, or three years. Creative Juice provides creators with the investment capital and then shares in the creator’s return for the agreed upon one, two, or three-year period. 

Dustin explains, “We noticed that the Reserve product worked for a certain type of creator, but there was a whole vast middle class that we’re trying to serve, who a deal over one, two, or three years doesn’t necessarily make sense, so we decided to create a product called Refresh, which launched December 1st.”

In contrast, the Refresh product gives capital to creators over three, six, or nine months. Creative Juice takes revenue from existing content, but the YouTube creator keeps all the revenue from the new videos created during this period. 

“It’s also there to fund capital for creators who are on the smaller side, that just need that upfront capital to buy a camera, set up a new office space, hire a contractor in the short term, like an editor.”

Dustin explains that the primary difference between the two is that Reserve is for all types of creators. In contrast, Refresh is specifically for YouTubers because this product requires a backlog of monetized content. 

Dustin explains that YouTube is unique because it’s been at the forefront of the creator economy since the early 2000s. YouTube’s monetization opportunities are also unique because creators can continue to earn money from old content.

“To further clarify that in the marketplace right now, usually, back catalog deals are five years. So, other companies will give creators capital for a five-year term length. We think that our offering and our product, which is three, six, or nine months with Refresh, is more creator-friendly because it’s less of a time commitment for the creator and still allows them to get the same capital.”

Refresh Success Stories

Refresh had a beta time period, which resulted in many creator success stories. For example, TheSimonShi is a triple threat creator, triathlete, and Rubix cube champion. 

Regarding Simon using the Refresh product, “It’s a very cool niche and his content because his videos are evergreen. People are always going to go back to them, even though they’re posted a year ago. He was the perfect candidate for Refresh, so he used the money that we gave him for a three-month time period to invest in his business.”

In addition to the Refresh product, creators can also look into the multi-year deal, Reserve, for further, long-term funding. 

Dustin notes that he hopes these products also help creators see themselves as businesses worth investing in. 

He adds, “We’ve seen a real disconnect in that they [creators] don’t necessarily always see themselves as businesses. If they do not see themselves as businesses, they aren’t running their actual business as a business, so that’s what we aim to do with our business banking that’s currently up there.”

Building Community Among Creators

In addition to being a financial resource for creators, Creative Juice also builds community. 

Dustin shares that Creative Juice invests in programs and community groups for creators to 

connect. 

“In terms of programming, every month we have multiple people come in to talk to creators that we’ve given funding to. Some of those people are recruits… At various points, we’ve had health, mental health, and wellness people come in to talk to creators about how to avoid burnout.”
These resources provide creators with the community and the knowledge that they are not alone.