Women’s media startup Sugar said today it has raised $15 million in a new round of funding to expand its brand into new markets.
The San Francisco-based company runs celebrity news site PopSugar.com and said it plans to use the money for brand extensions, acquisitions and international growth as part of a plan to become the world’s largest media company focused on women’s lifestyles. The five-year-old company said it has a global audience of more than 20 million unique visitors a month. Other sites include ShopStyle.com, PopSugarCity.com, and Fashionologie.com.
The investment was led by Institutional Venture Partners with participation from original investor Sequoia Capital. To date, Sugar has raised $46 million.
Rivals include Yahoo, which has expressed an interest in acquiring Sugar. But husband-and-wife co-founders Brian and Lisa Sugar have remained independent. Sugar was previously affiliated with NBC Universal, which had put $10 million into the company, but it bought back its stake in 2009 and received a $16 million third round of funding at the time from Sequoia.
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Sugar has 190 employees and operations in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia. Brian Sugar, chief executive, says the company’s users drive more than $250 million in commerce to its partners. He also said the company was profitable in 2010. Rivals include other ad-supported community lifestyle sites targeting women such as Glam Media.
