Caravan
1 known investors
Caravan is a venture studio that co-founds and accelerates consumer brands and consumer tech companies at the intersection of pop culture and innovation, providing capital and operational support to entrepreneurs. It operates in partnership with entertainment agency CAA, offering portfolio companies access to the CAA ecosystem across sports, entertainment, and impact.
Also known as Caravan
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Caravan is a venture builder and incubator that creates and scales consumer brands and consumer technology companies positioned at the intersection of pop culture, consumer markets and technology. It operates in partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), co-founding companies with entrepreneurs and celebrity talent and supplying capital, operational support and access to the CAA ecosystem across sports, entertainment and impact-oriented categories.
The firm was started in 2018 as a joint venture with CAA and helps public figures build businesses around their personal brands. Examples cited in press coverage include fit52, a fitness and wellness app created by country musician Carrie Underwood in 2020, and Love, Nala, a cat-food company run by the owners of the social-media pet influencer Nala the cat. In June 2021 Caravan announced a $50 million fund with e-commerce financier Clearco to back celebrity-associated startups, with fit52 the first recipient; at that time the company said it aimed to co-launch six to eight new celebrity-founded businesses per year.
Caravan's own website lists offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York and Tokyo, a team of more than a dozen people including co-founder and CEO Leonard Brody, and a portfolio spanning AUNU, a stealth beverage company, Zeya, Citrine, HAI, Hinote, Love Nala, Yummers, Relvino, Blueline Studios and a Japan-focused entity, Caravan / Japan.
Founding story
Caravan was begun in 2018 as a joint venture with talent agency CAA. Co-founder and CEO Leonard Brody, previously a venture capitalist, has said interest in celebrity-built businesses intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic as public figures reassessed what they wanted to work on and the advisers around them recognised the category as one they should be active in.
Business model
Caravan co-founds and incubates consumer brands and consumer technology companies with celebrities and entrepreneurs, contributing capital, operational support and access to the CAA network in exchange for equity in the ventures it helps create. Alongside its equity activity, the $50 million vehicle raised with Clearco deploys capital on Clearco's revenue-share basis rather than for equity, so founders can fund growth with less dilution and without a required exit.
Caravan takes equity in the companies it co-founds; capital provided through the Clearco vehicle is repaid as a share of portfolio-company revenue rather than converted into ownership.
Traction
As of June 2021 Caravan had raised $12 million from investors including Hasbro, Real Ventures and SeedCamp, plus a $50 million Clearco vehicle, and had launched ventures including Carrie Underwood's fit52 and Love, Nala, whose namesake cat influencer had more than 60 million followers across Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Its website lists eleven portfolio entries.
Latest developments
In June 2021 Caravan announced a $50 million fund raised with Clearco to support startups with celebrity backers, deployed on a revenue-share rather than equity basis, with Carrie Underwood's fit52 app as the first recipient. The company said at the time it was raising a further round of about $25 million for additional investments in celebrity-backed companies and expected to announce more investments in the following months.
▸Full profile — market position, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Caravan operates as a CAA-aligned incubator in the celebrity-brand building segment, a category that press coverage describes as attracting heightened interest from both celebrities and investors, with prior outcomes such as Casamigos, Kylie Cosmetics and Proper No. Twelve cited as evidence of the upside and Trump Steaks and the Kardashian-backed credit card cited as failures.
Caravan's stated distinguishing asset is its partnership with CAA, which gives it proprietary access to the agency's roster and network of entertainment, sports and cultural figures for co-founding consumer ventures. Its financing structure combines equity venture building with non-dilutive, revenue-share capital supplied through Clearco, which management positions as suited to founders who intend to hold their brands long term rather than pursue an exit.
Go-to-market
Caravan sources ventures through its joint-venture relationship with CAA, co-founding businesses with talent and entrepreneurs already connected to the agency's ecosystem rather than investing through open deal flow. It pairs celebrity audiences with performance marketing and operational support, and stated a cadence of six to eight new co-launched companies per year as of mid-2021.
Celebrities, athletes, entertainers and social-media personalities seeking to build businesses around their brands, and the entrepreneurs who co-found and operate those consumer and consumer-tech ventures.
Geography
The company lists offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York and Tokyo, and maintains a Japan-focused entity, Caravan / Japan, in its portfolio.
History
Caravan began in 2018 as a joint venture with talent agency CAA. By mid-2021 it had raised $12 million from investors including Hasbro, Real Ventures and SeedCamp, had launched ventures such as Carrie Underwood's fit52 app and cat-food brand Love, Nala, and had announced a $50 million financing vehicle with Clearco while raising a further round of roughly $25 million. Forbes Media is described as an investor in and business partner of Caravan. The company's site lists offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York and Tokyo and a portfolio that includes AUNU, an undisclosed beverage company, Zeya, Citrine, HAI, Hinote, Love Nala, Yummers, Relvino, Blueline Studios and Caravan / Japan.
Risks & controversies
Press coverage notes category-level risks in celebrity-backed consumer ventures: many such businesses fail, and reliance on a public figure exposes brands to reputational shifts, with examples cited including retailers pulling Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookware and her departure from the cleaning brand Safely following revelations about online bullying.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsCaravan raised $50 million alongside e-commerce investor Clearco (formerly Clearbanc) to finance startups with celebrity backers. Capital is deployed on Clearco's revenue-share model rather than for equity. The first recipient was fit52, a fitness and wellness app created by Carrie Underwood in 2020.
$50M source ↗
Caravan formed an alliance with Clearco under which Clearco gains access to celebrity brands and portfolio companies receive revenue-share financing aimed at operations, marketing and inventory management.
Caravan began in 2018 as a joint venture with talent agency Creative Artists Agency.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Caravanhellocaravan.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Caravan do?
- CAA-partnered venture builder that co-founds and scales celebrity-backed consumer brands and consumer tech companies.
- Who are Caravan's investors?
- Caravan's investors include East West Ventures EWV.