Online media network Tastemade Inc. of Santa Monica has raised a $40 million Series D round.
The cash influx will be used to expand production capacity, launch new shows in international markets and improve the company’s video distribution technology.
In partnership with freelance video creators, Tastemade produces online food, travel and lifestyle content. The company distributes on variety of platforms including YouTube, Apple TV, Snapchat and Facebook. Tastemade content is watched by more than 100 million monthly active viewers and its videos get more than 1 billion views monthly, the company said.
While Tastemade started its work distributing videos on YouTube in 2012, these days the company feels it’s necessary to push its content out broadly, across different platforms and formats, such as Facebook and Snapchat.
“There’s no question it’s getting more complex. Consumers’ time and engagement is being fractured across these platforms.” said Tastemade co-founder Larry Fitzgibbon. “We are trying to reach a younger audience that is spending more and more time on digital platforms.”
That can lead to a complex video editing and distribution process.
“We are creating content of different shapes and sizes, and of different lengths, on all these different platforms,” said Fitzgibbon. “On Snapchat we might shoot vertically, but that same piece of content might also go on Apple TV, which is horizontal.”
To adjust video formatting and quickly distribute content across different platforms at once, Tastemade relies upon proprietary software, he said. Part of the company’s financing round will be put towards further enhancing that platform.
Tastemade’s Series D round was led by Goldman Sachs with participation from Redpoint Ventures, Raine Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Liberty Media, Scripps Networks Interactive and Tohokushinsha Film Corp. Tastemade has raised about $80 million in capital in total.
Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.
