Puck, the media startup co-founded by Jon Kelly, has raised over $10 million in a Series B growth round led by British investment firm J Rothschild Capital Management.
Kelly revealed the news Tuesday to Axios.
Puck was founded in 2021 and launched after raising a $7 million Series A funding round. As of this year, the outlet’s combined free and paid subscriber base reached roughly 240,000 subscribers, with around 30,0000 of those being paid subscriptions.
Co-founder and CEO Joe Purzycki stepped down from his role in May, just as the company was beginning to pursue this round of funding. Puck has not yet named a new CEO, as the company continues to seek a replacement.
The new round of funding closed last week, with two of Puck’s existing investors, Standard Investments and TPG participating. Although the two firms did not lead the Series B round, they continue to serve as the digital media company’s largest investors.
With the funding, Puck plans to expand its subscription and advertising businesses, while bringing on more employees. “We’ll be hiring more great authors, operators, and marketers; building out our I.P. business; and expanding our footprint into Hollywood and Washington, D.C., in particular,” Kelly told Axios. Puck currently has 31 employees and intends to add eight to 10 more to the staff by the end of 2023.
The outlet is not yet profitable year-to-year but has seen several individual profitable months. The Series B funding round values Puck at around $70 million.
The business model of Puck allows its journalists to take a share of the subscription revenue that their reporting brings in, valuing talent that is able to build an individual brand for their consumers.
“We’re laser-focused on the task of building an amazing cultural product around a team of generationally talented journalists,” Kelly told Axios. “At the same time, we’re more committed than ever to redefining the business model of journalism, and ensuring that the creators remain in the middle of the equation.”
