Bustle.com, a media startup which is launching a news and lifestyle website aimed at women, has raised $6.5m in a combined seed and series A funding round led by venture capital and philanthropy fund The Social+Capital Partnership, and Time Warner Investments, the corporate venturing division of media group Time Warner. The round included the participation of Google Ventures, the corporate venture division of internet search engine Google, and seed capital investors 500 Startups and Rothenberg Ventures.
Ted Maidenberg of Social + Capital Partnership and Allison Goldberg of Time Warner Investments have joined Bustle’s board of directors.
Bustle has been founded by Bryan Goldberg, who previously co-founded Bleacher Report, a sports media company acquired by Turner Media in 2012 for over $200m.
In an article published in Pandodaily, Goldberg explains that his rationale for launching Bustle is that most new high revenue publications and new media launches have been aimed at men, despite the fact that women account for 70% of household spending and the majority of time spent online.
Goldberg writes: “Women’s publishing has long served as a symbol of ‘old media’ stagnancy.” He goes on to state there is an opportunity “to completely transform women’s publishing”, and is aiming for Bustle to become the largest website in the female 18 – 34 category.
Bustle’s competitor women’s brands will include Vogue, Cosmo and Glamour.