UPDATED 07:02 EDT / APRIL 28 2015

NEWS

“Lifestyle media company” Refinery29 raises $50 million Series D

refinery29“Lifestyle media company” Refinery29 has raised $50 million Series D in a round that included Scripps Networks Interactive and WPP Ventures.

Founded in 2004, the company describes itself as the largest independent fashion and style website in the United States, and boasts among its achievements that it was named as the fastest growing media company on the 2013 Inc. 500 list.

“Media is at an inflection point,” Co-founder and co-Cheif Executive Officer of Refinery29 Philippe von Borries said in a statement. “Over the next five years, multi-billion dollar media brands will grow out of the digital core, from which Refinery29 was born and is the leader. We are focused on vastly expanding our media and entertainment brand, creating smart, provocative editorial, video, and social content at the intersection of style, culture, and independence.”

Refinery29 claims to have nearly doubled in growth every year for the last three years, and that the business is profitable.

The company has grown out from its core blog to deliver a somewhat Buzzfeed-esque style offering (sans-animated gifs) that includes coverage of politics, culture, food and technology, that is said to “connect with women across all dimensions of their lives.”

Insanity or maturity in independent media funding?

 

On one hand, it’s great to see a company like Refinery29 doing good things, and as a novelty in 2015 where the likes of the Huffington Post hasn’t, actually making a profit.

There is definitely room for independents to be delivering solid, well-liked content, and all of Refinery29’s public stats would suggest just that: it ranks globally at 1,390 on Alexa, and Compete has it pumping through just shy of 6 million unique visitors in March this year.

But $50 million Series D?

The company has goals and says it wants to use the new round “to accelerate its mission to become the global media company for a new generation of women, powering inspirational, smart entertainment and discovery tools and resources across lifestyle categories,” and admittedly the author of this post isn’t female, so maybe something is lost there.

But $50 million Series D?

For research purposes one of Australia’s leading style bloggers, Kellie Anderson, was contacted for comment, and for a female perspective on the round.

Her response on the round was (exact words) “Really? Holy crap.”

And here’s the other thing: it was SERIES D. With the new round funding for the company now stands at $80.4 million to-date.

For a glorified blog.

If Refinery29 is actually making money, and they can seriously use this round to grow the business, good for them.

But only those with blinkers on could call this anything other than being indicative of the bubble the tech industry is currently well and truly engrossed in.

Investors who didn’t participate in the new round include Stripes Group, Floodgate, Lead Edge Capital, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures, and Hearst Corporation.


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