Burda continues to support WaitWhat one of the most valuable independent portfolios of premium IP in podcasting, with a follow-on investment.
BurdaPrincipal Investments, the growth capital arm of media and tech company Hubert Burda Media, participated in a $12 million funding round (Series B) led by Raga Partners. Other Series B investors include Emerson Collective, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, Capital One Ventures, GingerBread Capital, Cue Ball Capital, and Reid Hoffman.
Downloaded 70 million times, WaitWhat’s media properties have defined entirely new genres in the areas of business (Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman), wellness (Meditative Story), creativity (Spark & Fire) and technology (Should this Exist?). In closing the round, the company intends to accelerate development of its innovative technology products; distinctive membership programs and partnerships that extend the core IP into multi-format media experiences.
June Cohen and Deron Triff, the executives who built and led TED’s media organization from the launch of TED Talks through its global expansion, founded WaitWhat in 2017 to invent entirely new media formats that are designed to help people reach their full potential, and become an integral part of their daily habits.
“The significance of this round goes far beyond the money. It gives us the opportunity to deeply collaborate with this specific group of investors who understand how technology can convert the extreme passion we see in our users into massively vibrant communities to amplify ideas. Developing beloved, original content will always be core to our mission, but it’s only the first step for us. We’re now building a full suite of technologies and products to platform our content and bring it more deeply into users’ lives.”
June Cohen, WaitWhat Co-founder
“We have been invested in WhaitWhat since 2018 and are thrilled to see the company delivering and developing new media formats that help people become the best versions of themselves. We are looking forward to welcoming the new investors on board and continuing to support June and Deron on their further journey with this great media invention company.”
Christian Teichmann, Managing Director of BurdaPrincipal Investments
by Dorothee Stommel
Head of International Communications
Dorothee.Stommel@burda.com