NBCU Invests Additional $200 Million in BuzzFeed

NEW YORK: NBCUniversal has made an additional $200 million investment in BuzzFeed, as the companies expand their strategic partnership.

With this new funding, NBCUniversal and BuzzFeed will extend their advertising sales relationship. BuzzFeed will collaborate with NBCU on production and social distribution for NBCUniversal’s Content Studio, which delivers platform-specific, short-form digital video content to advertisers. NBCUniversal will also represent BuzzFeed’s inventory to advertisers. The companies will also work together to create new digital consumer experiences for NBCU premium content.

“Over the past year, BuzzFeed has proven to be a valuable partner across our business,” said Maggie Suniewick, the president of NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises. “From the Olympics to the record-breaking launch of Secret Life of Pets, BuzzFeed has helped us engage millennial audiences with our content and extend the reach of our clients’ campaigns to new platforms. We are looking forward to using the power of our brands to collaborate in more innovative ways that drive value for both companies.”

“NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner this past year and we can’t wait to do more with them,” added Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s CEO and founder. “Our collaboration has allowed us to focus on our respective strengths, learn from each other and serve our combined audience better with compelling news, entertainment and advertising offerings that neither company could do on our own. The investment allows us to remain a fully independent company but have access to and resources from the strongest and best media company there is.”

“BuzzFeed is really perfectly positioned to continue to lead the industry,” said Kenneth Lerer, BuzzFeed’s executive chairman. “With digital distribution fully built out, mobile content is where all the excitement is and this follow-on commitment from NBCUniversal will allow us to continue to build out our footprint, invest in new products and continue to aggressively grow our revenue.”