Led · Seed · Jun 2022

Neol offers a Web3-enabled, decentralised and tokenised cohort-based learning platform that also functions as an on-demand talent marketplace for creative professionals. The product is designed to enfranchise creatives and innovators from scale-ups, corporations and creative organisations so participants can learn, connect and participate as owners. The company has run eight cohorts serving over 600 learners and 200 customers. Neol intends to continue building its network of communities and expand from initial markets in the U.K., Europe and the Middle East into new markets in the Global South. The startup plans to use its recent funding to accelerate product, brand and partnership development. Leadership includes co-founders Kerem Alper (CEO) and Akar Sumset (president).

Participated · Series C · Apr 2017

Mic Network produces news and branded content aimed at millennials, publishing text and video across topic channels such as politics, social justice, personal finance, entertainment, technology, beauty, food and travel, and gaming. The company creates sponsored content for advertisers seeking to reach millennial audiences and lists clients including Alphabet, Discover, Goldman Sachs, Marriott, Netflix, Chanel and Microsoft. Mic operates multiple themed channels (e.g., Navigating Trump’s America, The Movement, Payoff, Slay, Hype, The Future Is Now, Strut, Out of Office, Multiplayer) in addition to core news coverage. Founded in 2011 and based in New York, Mic employs 165 people and maintains bureaus in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Stockholm and Kiev. The article states the company has raised about US$60M in funding since inception. No revenue or user metrics are disclosed in the article. Mic is a millennial-focused digital publisher that emphasizes video news and topical content channels. The company reaches 66 million unique readers and viewers each month, and 75% of its daily views come from video. It launched its first video series about two years prior to the article and recently announced nine new content channels covering topics like women’s issues and pop culture. Mic says its advertising business tripled revenue year-over-year, and that three quarters of advertisers who bought with Mic returned. The company plans to accelerate investment in video news and to expand premium video offerings for live and SVOD distributors using the new funding. Mic was founded in 2011. Mic publishes news and video content targeted at millennials, retaining a political emphasis from its PolicyMic roots while presenting a more serious tone than list-driven peers. The company reports its audience tripled from 9 million in January 2014 to 30 million in May 2015, with 70% of readers under 35. Mic operates a roughly 45-person newsroom and plans to grow to more than 100 staff within 18 months. It is expanding its brand partnership team to build advertiser-facing branded content and increasing investment in video after its Flip the Script series achieved 33 million views across eight episodes. The company recently hired Madhulika Sikka, formerly executive editor at NPR, as Mic’s executive editor to help lead editorial growth. Mic has raised new capital to fund this expansion and conversion to a text-and-video brand across phones, laptops and tablets.