Sophia Amoruso Nabs Another $2M for Girlboss
FASTER THAN THE…: Sophia Amoruso’s digital media firm Girlboss has pulled in another $2 million.
The company — which focuses on female empowerment through digital content on its web site, a podcast and conferences — confirmed the raise Wednesday. The capital brings its total seed funding raise to date to $3.1 million, including capital raised in August, and marks the round’s close.
The latest raise was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and included serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, cofounder and chief executive officer of digital agency VaynerMedia, and entertainment management firm Atom Factory.
Girlboss said it will continue to make hires and expand on the digital front with the funding. To that end, Katie Gowdy Pridham was hired as head of brand partnerships, joining the Silver Lake-based company after having worked at Refinery29, New York Magazine and Elle.com. Girlboss has filled a number of key positions with experienced executives this year, such as president and chief revenue officer Alison Wyatt, who previously worked at Goop and Refinery29, in addition to chief operating officer and editor in chief Neha Gandhi, another Refinery29 alum.
“It’s been incredible to see so many brilliant, ambitious and creative young women respond to Girlboss in the short time since we launched, and we look forward to providing them with even greater digital offerings and storytelling capabilities,” Amoruso said in a statement. “With this funding, we’ll also continue to build a talented team that is as passionate about redefining success for and with a new generation of women.”
Amoruso has moved at a dizzying pace this year since launching her media firm earlier in the year. The company held its first Girlboss Rally in Los Angeles in March, pooling together a group of about 500 attendees for a day of talks from executives, celebrities and entrepreneurs. In the summer, Amoruso relaunched her podcast, a program she started while still at Nasty Gal, while the Girlboss site has seen a steady boost to the amount of content being produced on topics ranging from work and money to wellness and profile pieces. In November the Girlboss Rally concept expanded to the East Coast.
“I’m eight months into building a media company slash, slash, slash. It’s not just media,” Amoruso told WWD in October. “From where I sit, starting at a place where everyone’s skeptical of media is exciting and interesting. It’s fun to have a business at this stage where we can sit and survey the market and what’s worked and hasn’t worked for other people and not be burdened by the choices they made and spent millions of dollars on building out whatever it may be — whether it’s video teams or editorial teams — and really think about what we want to do. Not just chase what’s trending or do what’s been done before.”
For More West Coast News in WWD:
MadaLuxe Group Sets Sights on Retail With Vault Concept
Rimowa CEO Alexandre Arnault on Rewriting Luxury Retail
Fear of God, Maxfield Link for Holiday Pop-up
Related stories
MadaLuxe Group Sets Sights on Retail With Vault Concept
Goop Links With LeCatch's Marlein Rentmeester on Marmy Coat
Fear of God, Maxfield Link for Holiday Pop-up
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
