Mic, a US-based online publisher targeting millennials, has raised $21m in a series C round featuring brand services holding firm You & Mr Jones and mass media group Time Warner.
Kyu Collective, the US subsidiary of Japan-based advertising holding company Hakuhodo DY Holdings, also contributed to the round, which was led by venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. Time Warner participated through its corporate venturing arm, Time Warner Investment.
Founded in 2011, Mic operates a news publishing website aimed at an audience in their early twenties through to their mid-thirties. The company has been increasingly focusing on video content which now makes up 75% of its reach among its 66 million monthly unique visitors.
The series C capital will be used to expand nine recently launched content channels, which focus on topics such as pop culture and women’s issues, and to develop premium video offerings. Kyu Collective and You & Mr Jones will support Mic’s advertising business.
The deal values Mic in the “mid-hundreds of millions of dollars”, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited an unnamed source familiar with the transaction. Allison Goldberg, global managing director and senior vice-president of Time Warner Investment, will join Mic’s board of directors.
Mic has now secured $52m in total funding. Media company Axel Springer took part in the company’s $17m series B round in 2015 through its strategic investment subsidiary, Axel Springer Digital Ventures.
The series B round was also led by Lightspeed, with participation from Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Advancit Capital, Red Swan Ventures, John S and James L Knight Foundation and angel investor Jim Clark.
The company’s other shareholders include VC firm Digital News Ventures, which contributed to an $1.8m angel round in 2013 alongside Knight Foundation and assorted private backers.