It seems investors like colorful crafts and yummy recipes, too. Brit + Co. received $6.3 million in funding today, for its online lifestyle blog that uses an image-heavy, Pinterest-like display to rope readers in.
The funding comes from Oak Investment Partners, which is known for investing in companies like Brit’s. That is, new media opportunities. The investment firm previously invested in The Huffington Post, which has been very successful at attracting free and relatively good content for its news site, as well as Bleacher Report, which did something similar for sports news.
Brit + Co. was founded by Brit Morin in 2011, who previously worked at Google, but found a passion for blogging about crafts. She is further engrained in Silicon Valley through her marriage to Dave Morin, social media app Path’s founder. The company makes money through selling “Brit Kits” that provide the directions and materials for a do-it-yourself project every month. She also runs a shop on her website that sells featured items such as Moleskin notebooks, and books that involve DIY subjects, such as how to make a pin-hole camera, and “Handmade Weddings.” Morin says that she’ll use the funding to expand her team.
Oak Investment partner Fred Harman seems to like Brit + Co. not just for the content, but because she has been able to create a community. You can have all the content in the world, but without a community that cares, you’re not going to make much money.
Participating investors include Index Ventures, Lerer Ventures, and Cowboy Ventures. Marissa Mayer, Yahoo chief executive, and Aileen Lee, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, both participated as well.
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