San Francisco, June 16, 2026, 02:59 PDT
- Substack named Dan Robbins its first head of brand sponsorships.
- The platform is building up native sponsorships, with Uber, T-Mobile, Balenciaga, and Yahoo Scout signed on.
- The move adds ad-style revenue to a business that has mostly made money from subscriptions.
Substack steps into the brand sponsorship game with Dan Robbins now leading that push as its first head of brand sponsorships. Robbins, who’s done stints at Roku, PayPal, and Nielsen, joins as the company starts offering more native sponsorships to writers and creators. “Subscriptions remain the foundation of creator businesses on Substack,” Robbins told Axios, as the brand partnership platform starts rolling out. Axios
Substack said Monday that Yahoo Scout, Whatnot, Granola, Balenciaga, T-Mobile, Polymarket and Uber are its first sponsors. CEO Chris Best wrote that the companies are spending “millions of dollars” with Substack creators. Publishers choose their sponsor partners and keep control of the creative process, Best added. on.substack.com
Substack will launch a new ad program, moving from its long effort to focus only on paid subscriptions. CEO Chris Best said more than 100,000 publishers get paid through subscriptions on Substack now, and the top 10 make a combined $100 million or more each year. Variety reported the new plan aims to connect advertisers and newsletter writers to help sponsorship deals go through faster.
Substack has launched Creator Kits to help eligible publishers connect with sponsors. The kits are available for Substack Bestseller titles or writers with at least 100 paid subscribers, based on the company’s help page. These kits display figures such as subscriber counts, open rates, active readers, audience location, and sponsorship preferences.
Best said this isn’t automated ad buying: “Creators choose who they work with.” Robbins said they want sponsorships, though they are not taking cues from old internet ad models. For Substack writers who used to set up their own brand deals, the company is now moving in to run the matchmaking process. on.substack.com Axios
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