Zealot Networks acquires YC-backed Allscreen in deal worth $85M

Today Zealot Networks announced it has acquired Allscreen, a Y Combinator-backed video syndication platform. Sources tell VentureBeat the deal was worth roughly $85 million.

Allscreen distributes branded video content to places like Twitter, CNN, Fox, and Facebook to help build an audience for advertisers and publishers. For Zealot Networks, Allscreen’s technology is both a revenue generating tool and a vehicle for pushing its own content around the web.

Zealot Networks continues to scoop up companies left and right as it builds a media company with a fierce focus on millennials and the brands that want to advertise to them. To date, it has acquired 18 media companies and ad agencies. The goal is to amass digital publishers, social media influencers, content producers, and event designers to create a one-stop-shop where brand advertisers can build giant campaigns. At the same time, Zealot is building a large content business through its acquisition of Northside Media Group, ViralNova, and New Media Rockstars, so it can guarantee distribution and audience engagement. Its deal with Allscreen ensures that brands’ advertisers will garner views outside of Zealot Networks’ properties.

In the meantime, each of the companies that Zealot has acquired will continue to operate independently. That’s likely to continue, allowing Zealot to run its companies in partnership with one another, rather than as one collective whole. Under this structure, Zealot-owned sites can build their own independent audiences, while its many advertising properties continue driving revenue.

“The broader the audience we can reach, the better,” says CEO Danny Zappin. He plans on launching a main webpage that will act as a hub for Zealot’s many media entities, either later this year or at the beginning of next year.