Group Nine Media Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
Group Nine Media was acquired by Vox Media in December 2021.
Group Nine Media acquisition price
Undisclosed
Acquired by Vox Media · Dec 2021
Cumulative funding Group Nine Media raised
$190M
across 3 funding rounds
Key investors in Group Nine Media
Warner Bros. Discovery
Lerer Hippeau
Axel Springer
Axel Springer Digital Ventures
SBNY
About Group Nine Media
Group Nine Media is a New York-headquartered digital publisher reaching 150 million monthly users via social platforms. It owns Thrillist for food and travel, NowThis for news videos, The Dodo for animal content, and Seeker for science topics. The company produces short-form videos optimized for Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Founded
2013
HQ
New York City, NYWebsite
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2C
Revenue model
Advertising
Valuation
$600M (Sep 2019)
Group Nine Media Acquisition
Group Nine Media was acquired by Vox Media for an undisclosed price on 13 December 2021.
Before the acquisition Group Nine Media had raised $190M across 3 funding rounds.
Vox Media announced the acquisition of Group Nine Media on December 13, 2021, with the deal closing on February 22, 2022. Group Nine Media owns popular digital publishing properties including Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker, and POPSUGAR, focusing on video, social media, and lifestyle content. The transaction is structured as an all-stock deal where Vox Media owns 75% of the combined company and Group Nine owns 25%, with Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff leading the entity and Group Nine CEO Ben Lerer joining the board alongside Discovery, Group Nine's largest minority investor. The merger creates a top 10 U.S. media company by audience reach, with 130 million monthly domestic users and nearly 350 million social media followers across platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. The combined company is projected to generate $700 million in revenue and $100 million in profit in 2022, enhancing advertising capabilities through integrated branded content, performance marketing, and programmatic solutions. Vox Media integrates Group Nine's audience insights into its first-party data platform Forte and ad marketplace Concert. This consolidation reflects broader trends in digital media, aiming for scale amid industry challenges, with the combined entity positioned for potential future IPO though no immediate plans were announced.
| Acquirer | Date | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Dec 2021 | Strategic M&A |
Group Nine Media Valuation
Group Nine Media is currently valued at $600M, based on its undisclosed-stage round in September 2019. Read the announcement ↗
The $50M round was led by Warner Bros. Discovery, with participation from Axel Springer.
Group Nine Media's valuation has grown 1.0x from $585M at its undisclosed-stage round in October 2016 to $600M in September 2019, across 2 priced rounds.
Group Nine Media valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2019 | Undisclosed stage | $600M |
| Oct 2016 | Undisclosed stage | $585M |
Group Nine Media Funding History
Group Nine Media has raised a total of $190M across 3 funding rounds.
Group Nine Media's first fundraising round was a $100M undisclosed-stage round in October 2016. The most recent completed round was a $50M undisclosed-stage round in September 2019.
Group Nine Media funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2019 | Undisclosed stage | Warner Bros. Discovery (lead); Axel Springer | $50M | $600M | Discovery, now part of Warner Bros. Discovery, led a USD 50 million funding round in Group Nine Media in September 2019, with Axel Springer also participating. The round valued the company at about USD 600 million and brought total funding raised to USD 190 million. Both investors retained minority stakes. Group Nine said it would use the proceeds for intellectual property development, a commerce division and strategic acquisitions, and the company went on to agree the purchase of PopSugar in October 2019. Group Nine Media is a New York-based digital media holding company formed in 2016 with an investment of roughly USD 100 million from Discovery. Its brands include NowThis for news, The Dodo for animals, Thrillist for food and travel and Seeker for technology, and it produces short-form video for digital platforms. It also runs the in-house advertising agency Brandshop and has production deals with more than 20 distributors. |
| Nov 2017 | Undisclosed stage | Warner Bros. Discovery (lead); Lerer Hippeau; Axel Springer Digital Ventures | $40M | - | Group Nine Media raised a $40 million follow-on round in November 2017 from Discovery Communications, Axel Springer and the venture firm Lerer Hippeau. The company's valuation was not disclosed. Group Nine said the funding would be used to expand video content across its brands and for selected acquisitions, and earlier in the month it had announced the purchase of the digital comedy studio Jash. The company was formed in October 2016 with a $100 million investment from Discovery, combining the Lerer Hippeau-backed startups Thrillist, NowThis Media and The Dodo with Seeker, formerly Discovery Digital Networks. Axel Springer had previously invested in NowThis Media and Thrillist. Group Nine is based in New York and led by chief executive Ben Lerer, the founder of Thrillist Media. Its properties reach some 40 million unique visitors a day in the United States according to Nielsen, and its brands generate more than 5 billion monthly video views across platforms. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav called Group Nine an integral part of Discovery's strategy to reach audiences across screens and services. |
| Oct 2016 | Undisclosed stage | Warner Bros. Discovery (lead); Lerer Hippeau; SBNY | $100M | $585M | Group Nine Media launched in October 2016 as a digital media holding company combining millennial-focused brands Thrillist Media Group, NowThis Media, The Dodo, and Discovery's Seeker network along with SourceFed Studios. Discovery Communications invested $100 million as a minority stake with an option for future controlling interest, while Axel Springer maintained the second-largest shareholder position; Ben Lerer of Thrillist became CEO. The investment funded growth in sales team expansion, branded content studio, new verticals, and content development. Prior funding included Discovery's rounds in The Dodo (2014-2015) and Lerer Hippeau's involvement in The Dodo and NowThis. The company targeted young audiences with mobile video content, achieving 3.5 billion monthly video views and 12 billion social impressions, with 30 million YouTube followers and 40 million on Facebook. It focused on branded content sales rather than programmatic advertising. Discovery integrated Group Nine into its digital push, building on prior acquisitions like Revision3 (2012) and DeFranco Creative (2013), now rebranded as Seeker and SourceFed. This round valued Group Nine Media at $585 million post-investment, per reporting on the launch. A subsequent 2018 round raised $50 million from Discovery and Axel Springer at over $600 million valuation, bringing total funding to $190 million. Funds supported IP investments, commerce division growth, and production deals with Netflix, Comedy Central, and others. The structure allowed brands independence while leveraging combined scale against consolidating digital media landscape. |
Who has invested in Group Nine Media?
5 investors have backed Group Nine Media across its funding rounds, including Warner Bros. Discovery, Lerer Hippeau, Axel Springer, Axel Springer Digital Ventures and SBNY.
Lead investors include Warner Bros. Discovery.
Group Nine Media Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City, NY | 3 | Lead | Oct 2016 | |
| New York City, NY | 2 | Participant | Oct 2016 | |
 Berlin | 1 | Participant | Nov 2017 | |
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Group Nine Media
Group Nine Media has acquired 2 companies to date.
Last acquisition by Group Nine Media was on October 7th 2019. Group Nine Media acquired POPSUGAR for $300M.
Latest Acquisitions by Group Nine Media
| Description | - | Los Angeles-headquartered JASH is an entertainment production company specializing in comedy series, features, podcasts, animation, and live events. Formed in 2012 under Google's content initiative at Sunset Gower Studios, the studio develops genre-reviving content for global audiences with talents including Sarah Silverman, Michael Cera, Reggie Watts, and Tim & Eric. |
| HQ Country | | |
| HQ City | - | Los Angeles, CA |
| Deal Date | 7 Oct 2019 | 7 Nov 2017 |
| Valuation | $300M | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | ||
| EV/EBITDA | ||
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Group Nine Media Competitors
Group Nine Media competitors include listed companies like Network18 Media & Investments and RUM Group, and private ones like Panda TV, iQiyi Sports, Pocket FM and NewsBreak.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 China | Private | - | - | $732M | - | |
| Beijing | Private | - | - | $486M | - | |
 India | Private | $150M | - | $750M | 5.0x | |
| San Francisco, CA | Private | - | - | $1.1B | - | |
| India | Publicly listed | $217M | $51M | $440M | - | |
| United States | Publicly listed | $101M | ($78M) | $2B | 10.4x |
Group Nine Media Public Comps
Group Nine Media is no longer listed, but its public comps include Cover, Viaplay, Zee Entertainment, Taboola, Weathernews, HUYA, Network18 Media & Investments, Wirtualna Polska, Stingray Group and TVZone Media.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $312M | $34M | 1.7x | 1.7x | 16.0x | 8.6x | |||
| $1.8B | ($40M) | 0.6x | 0.5x | (28.2x) | 9.7x | |||
| $859M | $44M | 0.4x | 0.4x | 7.7x | 6.4x | |||
| $1.9B | $121M | 0.3x | 0.3x | 4.6x | 2.5x | |||
| $155M | $37M | 2.6x | 2.6x | 11.0x | 10.7x | |||
| $976M | ($27M) | 0.1x | 0.1x | (5.3x) | 10.1x | |||
| $217M | $51M | 3.6x | - | 15.1x | - | |||
| $564M | $98M | 1.3x | 1.2x | 7.7x | 5.4x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Group Nine Media competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Group Nine Media
| When was Group Nine Media founded? | Group Nine Media was founded in 2013. |
| Where is Group Nine Media headquartered? | Group Nine Media is headquartered in New York City, NY, United States. |
| Is Group Nine Media publicly listed? | No, Group Nine Media was acquired by Vox Media in December 2021. |
| Who acquired Group Nine Media? | Group Nine Media was acquired by Vox Media in December 2021. |
| What is Group Nine Media's valuation? | Group Nine Media was last valued at $600M in its undisclosed-stage round in September 2019. |
| How much funding has Group Nine Media raised? | Group Nine Media has raised $190M across 3 funding rounds. |
| What was Group Nine Media's last funding round? | Group Nine Media's last funding round was a $50M undisclosed-stage round in September 2019, led by Warner Bros. Discovery. |
| Who are Group Nine Media's investors? | Group Nine Media's investors include Warner Bros. Discovery, Lerer Hippeau, Axel Springer Digital Ventures, Axel Springer and SBNY. |
| Which companies are comparable to Group Nine Media? | Companies comparable to Group Nine Media include Panda TV, iQiyi Sports, Pocket FM, NewsBreak, Network18 Media & Investments and RUM Group. |
| How many companies has Group Nine Media acquired? | Group Nine Media has acquired 2 companies, including POPSUGAR and Jash. |
| What was the largest acquisition by Group Nine Media? | The $300M acquisition of POPSUGAR in October 2019 is the largest acquisition Group Nine Media has made to date. |
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