BuzzFeed expands into TV and movies with $200M NBCUniversal investment

After weeks of rumors, listicle-loving BuzzFeed has confirmed that entertainment giant NBCUniversal is making a $200 million equity investment in the new media company.

Today’s news comes a week after NBCUniversal made a similar $200 million investment in digital publishing company Vox Media.

Founded by Jonah Peretti and John Johnson in 2008, BuzzFeed has emerged as the poster child for viral videos, list-based articles, and social media-powered news sharing — today it claims 200 million monthly unique visitors.

Before today, the New York-based company had raised almost $100 million in funding, including a chunky $50 million round last August, and with this money the company has been on a major hiring spree, nabbing some big-name reporters and heads as it moves toward becoming a “serious” media publication.

Fresh from its entry into Japan, BuzzFeed will tap more than money from NBCUniversal as it looks to grow its brand globally — the two companies say they will “explore strategic partnerships across both organizations in the coming months.”

Indeed, this opens the door to some interesting possibilities when you consider that NBCUniversal’s parent company is cable giant Comcast. And NBCUniversal itself operates a sizable portfolio of news and entertainment TV networks, a movie company, theme parks, and more.

“BuzzFeed and NBCUniversal will be great strategic partners, and we both have a lot to offer the other,” said Kenneth Lerer, BuzzFeed’s executive chairman, in a press release. “We look forward to collaborating on television content, movies, the Olympics, and joint partnerships with ad agencies and brands.”

BuzzFeed, it seems, is about to become a major household name.