Bustle racks up $15.5 mln

Bustle, a news site that focuses on women, has closed $15.5 million in funding. General Catalyst Partners led the round with participation from Time Warner Investments, Rothenberg Ventures, 500 Startups and The Social+Capital Fund. Also, the company has appointed Neil Sequeira, managing director at General Catalyst Partners, to its board.

PRESS RELEASE

New York, NY -December 18, 2014 — Bustle, a leading news site made for and by women, announced today that it has raised $15.5 million in funding led by General Catalyst Partners with contributions from Time Warner Investments, Rothenberg Ventures, 500 Startups, and The Social+Capital Fund. Bustle will use the capital to accelerate its rapid growth, expand and invest in its editorial team, and build out its sales and brand offerings. Neil Sequeira, Managing Director of General Catalyst Partners, will be joining the Bustle board as part of the investment.

“Bustle is a modern media company and has grown rapidly by bringing together a great team and executing on a broad vision to entertain, educate and inspire,” said Neil Sequeira, Managing Director of General Catalyst Partners and Board member of Bustle. “We are excited about supporting the Bustle team, including Bryan, Kate and a stellar team of editors and contributors, as they create the next generation media platform for women. We look forward to bringing our experience in building successful digital media and consumer brands to help Bustle accelerate its growth across all its verticals — News, Entertainment, Fashion & Beauty, Lifestyle and Books.”

“Bustle is thrilled to be working with General Catalyst Partners as we keep scaling our publication,” said Bustle Founder and CEO, Bryan Goldberg. “This investment will provide us with the resources to continue to invest in our talented team of writers and expand our editorial, while creating new partnership opportunities with top brands. 2014 has been an incredible year for Bustle, and we are excited to build on that momentum.”

Since launching in August 2013, Bustle has amassed a dedicated readership of young, in-the-know, women, surpassing 20 million unique visitors for the month of November, 2014. Under Managing Editor Kate Ward’s leadership, the site has grown its editorial team to over 22 women, and dozens of contributors.

“This is exciting news not only for our editorial team, but also for our readers, who have connected so deeply with our passionate, intelligent, and hilarious contributors and content,” said Kate Ward, Managing Editor, at Bustle. “Over the past year-and-a-half, we have been lucky to have had the opportunity to work with, and be inspired by, some of the industry’s most gifted young women. I am thrilled that Bustle’s editors will be able to collaborate with even more talent as our team grows. “

Bustle recently moved into a new office space in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood to accommodate its expanding team. Additionally, the company has partnered with Microsoft for its first annual Upstart Awards, which honored the achievements of 13 exceptional women graduates of 2014 who are making a difference in their world.

ABOUT BUSTLE

Bustle is a start-up news site made for and by women that delivers everything readers want to know, see, and read — right now. Since launching in 2013, Bustle has seen considerable growth, with over 20 million women connecting with its writers and editors, who cover news, fashion, entertainment, and more.

About General Catalyst Partners| General Catalyst Partners is a venture capital firm that makes early-stage and growth equity investments. The firm backs exceptional entrepreneurs who are building innovative technology companies that transform industries, including Airbnb, BigCommerce, Datalogix, Datto, Demandware, The Honest Company, HubSpot, KAYAK, Oscar, Snapchat, Stripe, and Warby Parker. The General Catalyst partnership leverages its broad experience to help founders build market-leading businesses. General Catalyst has offices in Cambridge, MA, Palo Alto, CA and New York City. For more information, visit: www.generalcatalyst.com or www.twitter.com/gcvp.