Star Mountain Announces Exit of Channel Factory Investment

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Star Mountain Fund Management, LLC (“Star Mountain”) is pleased to announce its exit through the Truelink Investment in Channel Factory (“Company”). Truelink Capital is a Los Angeles–based private equity firm focused on Tech-Enabled Services and Industrials sectors. The transaction marks a successful exit for Star Mountain and other shareholders.

Founded in 2014 by Tony Chen, Channel Factory is a trusted partner to the world’s leading brands, agencies, and media buyers, delivering contextually targeted advertising solutions. Leveraging proprietary AI technology, Channel Factory helps advertisers maximize the efficiency of their digital media campaigns across YouTube, Meta, other walled gardens, and CTV. It ensures ads appear in brand-suitable, high-performing, and contextually relevant content.

Since Star Mountain’s investment, Channel Factory has successfully executed a number of valuable growth initiatives, including the expansion of its value proposition through strategic partnerships with Google and other social platforms, geographic expansion in Europe and Asia, and the professionalization of the management team, including the addition of experienced board members.

“We thank the team at Star Mountain Capital for their support and guidance. As our first institutional capital partner, they helped our business grow and expand globally as we leveraged their significant expertise in the Advertising and Marketing industry. We are excited they will continue to be a minority owner in Channel Factory’s next chapter of expansion,” said Channel Factory Founder and CEO Tony Chen.

“Since Star Mountain invested in Channel Factory, the company has been able to deliver outstanding growth and profitability. We’re proud to remain shareholders at Channel Factory in this new cycle and confident that they will achieve even more success,” said Bruce Eatroff, Star Mountain Managing Director.

About Star Mountain Capital

With over $4 billion in AUM (committed capital including debt facilities as of 5/31/2025), Star Mountain specializes in providing scalable and data-driven investment solutions across two core strategies:

• Direct Investments: Providing debt and equity capital to established lower middle-market businesses.
• Secondary Investments: Acquiring LP interests, direct assets, and making primary LP commitments.

Star Mountain’s investors include public and private pensions, insurance companies, commercial banks, endowments, foundations, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Employee-owned and sharing profits with 100% of its U.S. full-time employees, the firm prioritizes alignment of interests to maximize value for stakeholders.

Since 2010, Star Mountain has completed over 300 direct investments and 50 secondary/fund investments in the North American lower middle-market. The firm has been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies and a Best Place to Work by Crain’s New York Business and Pensions & Investments.

For more information, visit www.starmountaincapital.com.

Legal Disclaimer:

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase interests in any investment product. Awards and recognitions by third-party rating agencies, companies, or publications should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results or performance. They should not be considered as an endorsement, recommendation, or referral of Star Mountain Capital or its representatives by any client or third party. Rankings published by media and industry organizations are based on information provided by the recognized advisor. Additionally, readers should understand that past performance is not indicative of future results. Award descriptions and selection methodologies may vary.

Awards and Recognition Disclosure:

Star Mountain Capital's awards and recognitions are based on third-party evaluations and criteria, which may be subjective. These honors do not imply a guarantee of future performance or an endorsement by current or past clients.

Ranking Methodologies:

• Crain’s Best Places to Work: Evaluations were conducted through a two-part process, assessing workplace policies, practices, and employee satisfaction via surveys. Participation required a fee solely for survey processing purposes. More details are available at Crain’s eligibility criteria.
• Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work: Companies were evaluated based on surveys measuring employee engagement (75%) and employer policies (25%). Participation required a minimum of 20 U.S. employees and $100 million in discretionary assets under management. Further details can be found at P&I eligibility criteria.
• Inc. 5000 Rankings: Companies were ranked based on revenue growth from 2019 to 2022. To qualify, firms had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent, with revenue thresholds of at least $100,000 in 2019 and $2 million in 2022. More details are available at Inc. 5000 criteria.