Today we closed $30 million in financing. What that means for our awesome Cheezburger fans is that we are going to be able to provide you with even more content and an even better user experience.
As it relates to specific features, this might sound crazy, but honestly, we’re not sure what’s coming yet. We’re a company that’s about testing ideas and understanding what our users want from us so keep your feedback coming!
We’re also hiring! Starting today we’re looking to hire outstanding engineers, product managers, advertising salespeople, social media coordinators and many other positions. If you’re qualified and want to work for a fun new media company check out the jobs posted here: http://jobs.cheezburger.com.
Thanks for your support over the past 4 years and for being such amazing fans!
For those who care, here’s the full press release and our new investors very first LOL.
PRESS RELEASE:
Cheezburger Ramps up for More LOLcats, FAILS, and Memes with $30 Million Investment
Funding underscores opportunity for Cheezburger to become the largest humor network in the world, building off the growth of more than 16.5M people and 375M page views per month
Seattle, WA, January 18, 2011 –Cheezburger (www.cheezburger.com), the Internet publisher best known for LOLcats, FAILS, and other funny memes, today announced it has received $30 million in funding. Foundry Group, the venture capitalists behind several fast-growing startups such as Zynga and Gist, led the investment with Madrona Venture Group, Avalon Ventures, and SoftBank Capital. Cheezburger will use the additional capital to hire more employees and fund other marketing and growth initiatives for the Internet media publisher, which includes popular websites such as I Can Has Cheezburger?, FAIL Blog, Memebase, and The Daily What.
In conjunction with the financing, Cheezburger is expanding its board to include Brad Feld of Foundry Group, Greg Gottesman of Madrona Venture Group, and Rich Levandov of Avalon “In just over three years, Ben Huh and his team have amassed a treasure trove of websites that mainstream consumers love,” said Brad Feld, managing director of Foundry Group. “Already challenging the online traffic of traditional media companies, Cheezburger has an opportunity to surpass the industry heavyweights to become the world’s largest humor network. I look forward to being on the board and part of their success.”
Cheezburger was founded in September 2007 by Ben Huh, a former journalist turned dot com entrepreneur with a knack for nailing popular zeitgeist and has been credited with bringing Internet memes to the mainstream and popularizing Internet culture. Cheezburger counts a passionate fan base of 16.5 million people who upload more than 500,000 pictures and videos as well as view 375 million pages and 110 million videos each month. The company has been profitable since its inception with revenue from three sources – advertising, traditional media publishing including books, and merchandising.
“I have been a rabid fan of Ben and the Cheezburger team for years. It’s incredible what they’ve built with a small, dedicated team,” said Greg Gottesman, managing director of Madrona Venture Group. “As an investor, this one is as fun as it gets. We’re working with a great team, helping them grow an already massive audience, and testing new and exciting ways to monetize the funniest collection of sites on the Internet.”
About Foundry Group
Foundry Group is a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage information technology, Internet, and software startups. In addition to providing the necessary venture capital to get a company up and running, Foundry Group is committed to leveraging their experience in starting and growing companies, expertise in the technology industry, and network of relationships to help great entrepreneurs turn great ideas into great companies.
Foundry Group is based in Boulder, Colorado, and invests in companies located across the United States. For more information, visit www.foundrygroup.com.
About Madrona Venture Group
Madrona Venture Group is a Pacific Northwest-based investment firm with a focus on venture capital and private equity investments in early-stage information technology companies in sectors including Consumer Internet, Commercial Software and Services, Digital Media and Advertising, Networking and Infrastructure, and Wireless. Investors include large endowments,foundations, government entities, strategic corporations, and high net-worth individuals. The firm has over $650 million in assets under management.
About Avalon Ventures
Avalon Ventures is a San Diego-based venture capital fund focusing on seed and early stage companies in life sciences, wireless communications and “Web 3.0” digital media. For more information, visit www.avalon-ventures.com.
About SoftBank Capital
SoftBank Capital is an independent venture capital firm focused on businesses addressing ubiquitous, social computing. The firm addresses opportunities that deliver socially-driven content, services and applications across platforms and devices. SoftBank Capital offers entrepreneurs valuable experience and resources, including its close association with SoftBank Corp. in Japan. The firm’s historical investments include Associated Content, Buddy Media, Danger, E*TRADE, GeoCities, GSI Commerce, Huffington Post, WebMD, and Yahoo!. SoftBank Capital has offices in Newton, MA, New York City and Buffalo, NY. For more information, visit www.softbank.com.
About Cheezburger Network
Cheezburger Network is the largest online humor publisher in the world where more than 16.5 million people come every month to get their daily dose of laughter. With over 375 million page views and 110 million video views per month, the company behind popular sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger?, FAIL Blog, Memebase, and The Daily What? is quickly becoming the new Internet media publisher.
