CollegeHumor

Mar 9, 2022

FinSMEs Search for: Gumball.fm Gumball , a NYC- and Los Angeles, CA-based provider of advanced advertising technology solutions, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round, which brought total funding to $12m, was led by Union Square Ventures and Good Friends with participation from Craft Ventures, Vertical Venture Partners, Animal Capital, Calm Ventures, Gaingels, and Riverside Ventures. Early investors include Brad Smith (Founder & former CEO Simplecast; SVP, Head of Podcast Product – SiriusXM), EJ (CNET Operator), Kunal Shah, Zander Lurie (Survey Monkey, AKA Momentive), and Kerry Trainor (Soundcloud, Vimeo). It also includes talent from Headgum’s own roster and beyond, such as Nick Wiger & Mike Mitchell (Doughboys), Jon Gabrus (High and Mighty), Mano Agapion (Drag Her), and Geoffrey James & Reilly Anspaugh (Review Revue), as well as Streeter Seidell and Sarah Schneider (SNL), and Casey Neistat (YouTube Creator). The company intends to use the funds to further invest in the technology and hire independent talent. Led by CEO Marty Michael, Gumball is a marketplace for advertisers to connect with multiple podcasters to instantly identify and buy inventory and plan, manage and track executions at scale. The current inventory includes 100s of podcasts, including Headgum Original shows, podcasts within the Headgum Network, and hundreds of independent podcasters and content creators. While in development, the company worked with more than 500 brands and delivered more than 15,000 host-read ads. Some of the biggest podcasting brands include Casper, CBS, Netflix, OkCupid, Squarespace, Warby Parker, Brooklinen, AMC, Linkedin, and StockX. The company’s co-founders include comedy-duo Amir Blumenfeld and Jake Hurwitz (If I Were You podcast and formerly of CollegeHumor), CTO Andrew Pile (previously CTO of Vimeo), COO Amir Cohen (formerly of CollegeHumor), and Marty Michael (formerly of Meebo and CollegeHumor), who acts as CEO. FinSMEs 09/03/2022