Ozy Media has raised $35 million in series C funding led by Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group, bringing its total raised to $70 million.Founded in 2013, Ozy styles itself as a media company for curious people interested in change and ideas. Ozy has sold five primetime TV series to the likes of Amazon, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and the BBC, and expanded its festivals and podcasts.Cofounder and CEO Carlos Watson said he planned to use the funding to capitalize on the rise of streaming TV and associated demand for content, as well as grow Ozy's live events and podcasts.Ozy's growth contrasts with many new media companies that have struggled as most of the digital ad dollars go to Google and Facebook.Click here for more BI Prime stories.Ozy Media has raised $35 million in series C funding led by Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group, bringing its total raised to $70 million.The round also had participation from Interlock Partners, LionTree, Atinum Investment, iHeart Media, Venture Souk and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Partners Tom Franco, Don Gogel, and Roberta Quarta.Investors from earlier rounds also participated in this round: GSV Capital, Emerson Collective, and Business Insider parent Axel Springer.Founded in 2013, Ozy styles itself as a media company for curious people interested in change and ideas.Carlos Watson, a former MSNBC anchor who founded Ozy with Samir Rao and is the CEO, said he planned to use the funding to expand internationally Ozy's live events, which he said combines "the best of TED and Coachella," and create more TV programming at a time when the growth of streaming video platforms like Apple TV, Quibi, and Amazon is fueling a market for TV content. In the works are shows about food, dating, and climate changeand its first scripted drama.To support the expansion, Watson said he expected to double Ozy's staff, now around 75, in the next two years."We think there's a massive appetite by the change generation and what Netflix and others have done is whetted their appetite," he said. "We're looking to sell more [shows]. We think there's a big opportunity in podcasts. And the more we spend time online, the more we crave live events."He wouldn't give raw numbers but said Ozy was on track to grow revenue 50% this year for the fourth year in a row and that it would be profitable in 2020.Ozy gets half its revenue from TV and festivalsOzy's growth counters the fate of many new media companies that have struggled as most of the digital ad dollars go to Google and Facebook.Ozy started as a digital magazine, but Watson said he realized the need to diversify a few years ago when audience members said in surveys that they wanted to experience Ozy in different ways and he saw the "Serial" podcast and festivals like Coachella take off.Since then, Ozy has sold five primetime TV series including "Black Women Own the Conversation" to the Oprah Winfrey Network. It's expanded its live event in Central Park, Ozy Fest; and podcasts, which include "The Thread" and "Ozy Confidential."Now, at a time when many new media companies have struggled to reduce their reliance on digital advertising and Facebook's audience, Watson said Ozy gets more than half of its revenue from festivals and TV."We didn't remain a digital media company," he said of how Ozy forged its own path. "We realized millennials were listening to podcasts and going to events and we followed them and made a media company that was right and for the moment. We think of ourselves as a modern news and entertainment company that lives vibrantly across four platforms, as opposed to being a digital media company that's gasping for Facebook breath."SEE ALSO:https://www.businessinsider.com/how-refinery29-ended-up-selling-to-vice-media-2019-10 How Refinery29 bootstrapped for 8 years, caught fire, and raised $133 million ' only to end up selling to another struggling startup, Vice Media, for mostly stockJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid celebrity. Here's how she makes and spends her $360 million.
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