Refinery29, a digital lifestyle news site aimed at women, said Tuesday it raised $50 million in one of the largest capital rounds in the burgeoning sector.
The service said in a statement it would use the funds "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."
The company plans to expand internationally, boost its video content and seek to extend its reach to mobile users.
"Media is at an inflection point," said Philippe von Borries, co-founder and co-chief executive of Refinery29.
"Over the next five years, multibillion 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, founded in 2005 in New York, has nearly doubled in growth in each of the last three years and the business is profitable, according to the statement.
The site says it has "a loyal following of 25 million monthly unique visitors," or roughly one out of every four "millennial" or young adult women. It has a staff of 250 people with offices in New York and Los Angeles.
In the last year, the company has expanded its content from its core style focus to politics, culture, food and technology, all with an emphasis on women's interests.
The new funding is led by Scripps Networks Interactive and WPP Ventures, part of the British-based advertising and communications group.
This brings total funding to $80 million with previous investors including Stripes Group, Floodgate, Lead Edge Capital, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures and Hearst Corporation.
The latest funding is one of the larger injections into digital media, coming on the heels of $46 million for Vox Media, which publishes The Verge and Vox, among others, and $50 million for BuzzFeed.
Vice Media, a rapidly expanding digital media group, raised a reported $500 million last year.
© 2015 AFP
