Entertainment giant Fox Entertainment invests in the top-ranked short drama app on the user acquisition spending list. Has the global short drama industry entered the era of investment and mergers and acquisitions?
1. Fox Entertainment Invests in Holywater
The DataEye Research Institute has learned that recently, Fox Entertainment announced a strategic investment in Holywater, an AI short - drama company, to further expand its creative content portfolio and audience reach.
Fox Entertainment is a subsidiary of the US - based Fox Corporation. As an internationally renowned media brand, it owns well - known original TV series such as "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy". Holywater, on the other hand, is a Ukrainian AI short - drama company with four core applications: My Drama (a globally leading short - drama APP), FreeBits (a short - drama APP differentiated by an ad - supported model), My Passion (a globally leading e - book platform), and My Muse (an AI vertical - screen short - drama APP).
It is reported that the scope of this cooperation between the two parties covers the production of original vertical - screen short - drama series, advertising sales and brand partnerships, as well as the potential integration of Fox Entertainment's popular IPs, including the expansion and remaking of current Fox program stories.
Meanwhile, as part of the agreement, FOX Entertainment Studios (a subsidiary of Fox Entertainment) has committed to producing over 200 vertical - screen works for My Drama in the next two years. The first batch of works includes "Billionaire Blackmail" and "Bound by Obsession", both of which are currently in production and filming in Atlanta.
Data from the overseas short - drama version of ADX shows that in September 2025, My Drama ranked first on the DataEye Overseas Short - Drama Product Ranking List, with 202,000 groups of material placements. The top - promoted short - dramas in the past 30 days include "I Became My CEO's Darkest Secret" and "Spark Me Tenderly", both of which are extremely popular overseas short - dramas.
2. Has the Overseas Short - Drama Market Entered the Era of Investment and Mergers?
In fact, apart from Fox Entertainment's investment in Holywater, there have been quite a few cases of investment and mergers in the overseas short - drama market.
At the beginning of this year, StoReel, an overseas short - drama platform, completed a strategic financing of millions of dollars from a well - known overseas game company. This round of financing will be mainly used for the platform's content development.
A few months ago, CreativeFitting, the parent company of the AI short - drama app Reel.AI, announced the completion of a financing of millions of dollars. Reel.AI's ARR has exceeded $10 million.
On July 1st, SHORT ADS, a short - drama advertising commission platform, announced the completion of a $1.8 million Pre - A round of financing, marking the capital market's deep recognition of the integrated business model of "advertising technology + short - drama content".
Later, the Disney Accelerator Program announced the list of selected companies for 2025, which prominently includes DramaBox, an overseas short - drama app under Dianzhong. This means that the latter will receive investment funds provided by Disney, as well as mentorship and guidance from Disney executives.
Now, with Fox Entertainment's strategic investment in Holywater, the parent company of My Drama, as the recent investment wave has accelerated significantly, it means that the overseas short - drama market is moving from the stage of market expansion to the era of investment and mergers. Especially with the entry of traditional giants like Fox Entertainment, it also represents that the overseas short - drama market is being redefined by global capital.
On the one hand, the "money - burning battle for user volume" among overseas short - drama platforms has reached a white - hot stage, further increasing the demand for capital. A number of micro - short - drama apps have been eliminated and replaced by ad - supported short - drama apps. A typical example is that ByteDance's pikoshow has suspended its placements, marking a further increase in the threshold for overseas IAP short - dramas. Investment, mergers, closures, and restructurings may become the new normal for global micro - short - drama platform providers.
On the other hand, for traditional film and television giants, micro - short - dramas are also an emerging track that cannot be ignored.
Overall, with the development of the market, after the overseas short - drama market enters the era of investment and mergers, it not only means an influx of more hot money and a capital frenzy but also implies that market competition may become more intense.
This article is from the WeChat official account "DataEye Short - Drama Observation". Author: DataEye Research Institute. Republished by 36Kr with permission.