Freeda Media produces short videos, quick interviews and articles aimed at women across social platforms, positioning itself as a social-version of magazines like Elle or Cosmopolitan. The company is live in Italy, Spain and South America and claims 5 million women engage with its content daily. It reaches 80% of Italian and Spanish women aged 18–34 each month and reported 100 million Instagram interactions in 2019. Freeda currently monetizes primarily through branded content but plans to diversify with a direct-to-consumer product line launching in 2020. The startup is pursuing international expansion, opening an office in London and planning launches in the U.K. and other English-speaking markets. The team comprises about 160 employees. Freeda Media is a new-media company that builds large audiences on social platforms through short videos, social cuts with subtitles, quick interviews and linkouts to longer website articles. The company’s Facebook page has nearly 1.4 million likes and reaches about 24 million unique users per month in Italy, reportedly reaching 100% of millennial women in Italy; it is also active on Instagram. Freeda’s business model today is primarily branded content and native advertising, though the startup is exploring additional revenue streams. With only 15 months to reach its current scale, the company describes itself alongside legacy women’s brands such as Elle, Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan and claims higher engagement versus those peers per CrowdTangle. Management plans to use the new funding to internationalize, starting with expansion into Spain. The team notes risks inherent to social-first branded-content businesses, including branded-content overload and algorithm-driven audience shifts.

Total raised

$29M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Sep 2019