A Harvard Innovation Labs-incubated adult platform most creators have never heard of just did something no major creator-economy platform has tried: it gave its performers a direct ownership stake in the company itself. MintStars, an OnlyFans-style subscription platform with roughly 10,000 creators, converted 20% of its company equity into creator-owned shares — a structural experiment worth watching even if you have no plans to leave OnlyFans.
What MintStars actually did
The 20% stake is allocated across MintStars’ creator base based on three factors: revenue generated on the platform, referrals brought in, and general platform activity. In practice, that means the more a creator earns and grows the platform, the larger their slice of the pie. The equity move was reported by the Boston Globe in late July 2026, alongside interviews with creators who’d already begun receiving payouts tied to the new structure — one described the extra money as having “covered gas, groceries, and student loans.”
Where the equity actually came from
This wasn’t new shares conjured from nowhere — it came largely out of a founder’s own pocket. MintStars cofounder Jessica Van Meir, formerly the company’s COO, donated the bulk of her personal 23% stake to fund the creator pool as she stepped back to pursue a PhD, with a further 3% of that allocation earmarked for SWOP Behind Bars, a nonprofit supporting incarcerated sex workers. Cofounder and CEO Daniel Sargent, alongside team lead Allie Eve Knox, remain at the company. MintStars has also drawn backing from P2 Ventures, Escape Velocity, and AGE, a crypto-connected investor.
How the fee structure differs from OnlyFans
The equity stake sits on top of a fee model MintStars is explicitly positioning against OnlyFans’ standard 20% cut of creator earnings. Rather than taking a percentage off the top of what creators make, MintStars places transaction fees and processing costs on the subscriber side instead. It’s a smaller platform by an enormous margin — OnlyFans reported roughly $750 million in EBITDA in its most recent disclosed year, a scale MintStars isn’t close to — but the pitch is aimed squarely at creators frustrated with how much of their revenue larger platforms retain.
Why this matters even if you’re staying on OnlyFans
- It’s a live test of an alternative model. Creator ownership stakes are common in tech startups generally but essentially unheard of in the adult subscription space. If MintStars’ creator base grows meaningfully off the back of this, expect competitors to study it closely.
- It’s a bargaining chip in a crowded platform market. With Fanvue, Fansly, LoyalFans and others all competing for creators willing to diversify off a single platform (see our coverage of Fanvue doubling its revenue to $200 million), a genuine equity offer is a differentiator none of the bigger names currently match.
- Scale still matters more than structure, for now. A 20% stake in a platform with 10,000 creators is a very different proposition to a 20% fee cut on a platform processing billions. Don’t read this as “MintStars pays better” without checking actual take-home numbers for your own content category first.
- Diversifying isn’t just about lower fees. Any decision to add a second platform to your income mix is a business decision worth treating like one — audience overlap, content exclusivity terms, and payout reliability all matter as much as headline percentages.
The competitive picture
MintStars’ move lands in a year where the creator economy’s biggest platform has been consolidating power rather than sharing it — OnlyFans has spent 2026 fielding lawsuits over fees and subscription terms while its investors confirm plans for a US IPO. A smaller rival handing over equity is as much a marketing story as a governance one, but it’s a genuine data point on how far platforms might eventually go to win and keep creators, particularly the mid-tier earners who generate the bulk of platform revenue without ever making headlines. It’s also a reminder that creators who’ve built real income on this platform, such as the woman behind our recent profile on turning unconventional content into a six-figure income, are exactly the audience every rival platform is now trying to court with something other than lower fees alone.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice. If you’re weighing a change to which platforms you use or how you structure your income, consider speaking to an accountant or financial adviser familiar with self-employed and creator income.
