Kids’ entertainment specialist CAKE Entertainment has taken a minority stake in youth insights and influencer strategy company KidsKnowBest, forming a strategic partnership aimed at linking audience intelligence with global IP development.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. KidsKnowBest founder and CEO Joel Silverman (pictured)will retain full control of the business.
Founded in 2017, KidsKnowBest has built a youth intelligence community comprising thousands of children and families across the US and UK. The community provides ongoing first-party insights into behaviour, trends, brand affinity and cultural shifts among young audiences. The company uses this data to inform influencer strategy and campaign execution for brands targeting kids and family audiences, helping clients respond more quickly to emerging youth trends.
Under the partnership, KidsKnowBest’s insight and influencer capabilities will work alongside CAKE’s expertise in IP development, production, financing and distribution. The companies said the collaboration is intended to help bridge the gap between audience intelligence and the creation of scalable youth brands.
Silverman said: “This is far more than an investment, it’s a strategic collaboration built on shared ambition. Our global community gives us real-time visibility into what kids care about and how they engage. Partnering with CAKE allows us to connect that intelligence directly into the IP ecosystem.”
CAKE CEO Ed Galton said the investment was driven by the strength of KidsKnowBest’s community-led data model. “They don’t speculate about youth culture, they’re embedded within it. By bringing that audience intelligence together with CAKE’s experience in developing and scaling global kids’ brands, we see real opportunity to build culturally relevant IP with long-term value.”
The companies said they plan to collaborate across development, brand strategy and international growth, combining insight with global distribution capabilities as youth media consumption becomes increasingly fragmented and creator-led.
