AAA Zola engages Comcast for $100m series D

Zola engages Comcast for $100m series D

Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mass media group Comcast, led a $100m series D round for US-based wedding registry platform Zola yesterday.

Another Comcast subsidiary, media company NBCUniversal, also backed the round, as did BBG Ventures, the female entrepreneur-focused fund owned by online media group Oath, and investment bank Goldman Sachs’ Investment Partners unit.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, Canvas Ventures, Thrive Capital, Female Founders Fund, Balyasny Asset Management, Founders Circle, GingerBread Capital and private investor Jerry Yang filled out the round.

Zola operates an e-commerce platform for engaged couples that offers wedding planning tools such as a website, guest list and a registry that can include gifts, experiences or cash funds.

The company will use the money to strengthen its product and technology. It doubled its headcount over the past year and added another 300 brands to its registry service.

Zola has raised more than $140m to date. It secured $25m in a 2016 series C round featuring Comcast Ventures, BBG Ventures, Lightspeed, which led the round, Canvas Ventures, Thrive Capital, Female Founders Fund and co-founder Kevin Ryan.

BBG Ventures had already contributed to the company’s $10m series B round in 2015. Canvas Ventures led that round, which included Thrive Capital, Forerunner Ventures and Female Founders Fund.

Maggie Suniewick, president of NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises, said: “NBCUniversal is excited to co-invest with Comcast Ventures to provide Zola with both financial and strategic support.

“We are committed to working with Zola to find both promotional and commercial partnership opportunities across the NBCU portfolio that drive mutual value and accelerate growth.”

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