Fatherly

Fatherly
Type of site
Online media
Available inEnglish
FoundedApril 2015
Headquarters
New York City, New York
,
United States
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerBustle Digital Group
Founder(s)Michael Rothman[1]
Simon Isaacs[2]
URLfatherly.com
AdvertisingYes
RegistrationNo
Current statusActive

Fatherly is a digital lifestyle brand that provides news, expert advice, product recommendations and other resources for parents.[3][4] The company was founded in 2015 and is based in New York City.[5]

Overview

Fatherly offers articles, videos, and other digital content tailored to young fathers. The company has been described by The New York Times as "BuzzFeed meets Vice for parents".[2] While the site's content is geared toward men, half of Fatherly's audience are women.[6]

Fatherly covers a variety of topics across health, science, play, relationships, personal finance, gear and parenting. It also has several content franchises including 940 Weekends, which focuses on activities; My Father, The…, which provides first-person narratives from sons and daughters of famous parents; and The Fatherly Podcast, a streaming, conversation-based show.[6][7][8]

History

In October 2014, when Fatherly.com was still in beta, the company created a grant called The Fatherly Fund to help parents fund and complete projects for their children that they would not otherwise be able to afford.[9]

Founded by Simon Isaacs and Michael Rothman, Fatherly launched in April 2015. The founders cited the lack of male-focused parenting content as inspiration for the company.[10] Rothman further explained that he and Isaacs began Fatherly in part because "there are more diverse notions of family generally [and] there should be a platform for insights, advice and product recommendations that provides a bigger tent for more of today's parents."[11]

Fatherly was named one of Oprah's "favorite things" of 2016 and was noted by Adweek, Digiday and CNBC for its success with video targeting on Facebook.[12][13][14] In June 2016, nearly 3 million unique visitors went to the site.[15] By 2017, Fatherly reached 75 million people on Facebook each week.[6]

In early 2017, Fatherly received a Webby Award for "Best Parenting Site on the Internet."[16] Later that same year, Fatherly hired Andrew Burmon as editor-in-chief of the site.[17] Fatherly hired Michael Wertheim as the company's Chief Operating Officer.[15]

In 2020, Fatherly was acquired by Some Spider Studios, the parent of Scary Mommy.[18] In 2021, Bustle Digital Group acquired Some Spider.[19]

Funding

Fatherly raised an initial round of funding in 2015 for $2 million, which was led by SoftTech VC.[20] Other investors in the round included Crosslink Capital, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, The Knight Foundation, Gary Vaynerchuk and several angel investors.[21]

In 2017 Fatherly raised its Series A funding round totaling $4 million, which was led by BDMI with participation from SoftTech VC, Crosslink Capital, WPP plc, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and the talent agency UTA.[7][22][23]

References

  1. ^ Jason Feifer (19 June 2018). "When Nobody Believed in His Vision, the Co-Founder of Fatherly Shares How He Proved Them Wrong". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b Hannah Seligson (1 May 2017). "Making Room (on the Web) for Daddy". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  3. ^ Kristen Bellistrom (8 April 2017). "How Fatherly plans to corner the market on millennial dads". Fortune. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  4. ^ Margot Machol Bisnow (10 July 2017). "Do Your Kids Really Need College?". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  5. ^ Karsten Strauss (13 May 2015). "Great Places For New Dads To Work In 2017". Forbes. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Laura Hazard Owen (11 May 2017). "Fatherly wants to build "the leading digital site for parents" — and is counting on mothers to get it there". Nieman Foundation at Harvard. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  7. ^ a b Erin Griffith (7 August 2017). "Millennial Dad Site Fatherly Raises $4 Million to Expand Into Video and Events". Fortune. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  8. ^ "iHM Unveils New Slate of Original iHR Podcasts". Radio Online. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  9. ^ "The Fatherly Fund Will Pay Dads to DIY". Popular Mechanics. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Fatherly's Mike Rothman on fighting the 'doofus dad' stereotype". Digiday. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  11. ^ "How to Pursue Love and Purpose While Still Being Kind". Thrive Global. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  12. ^ Max Willens (16 August 2017). "Inside Fatherly's very grown-up viral video strategy". Digiday. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  13. ^ Michelle Castillo (25 August 2016). "Advertisers take note of dads' larger role in back-to-school shopping". CNBC. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Fatherly Raises $4 Million". News Center. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  15. ^ a b Richard Hogan (1 June 2017). "Fatherly Installs Michael Wertheim as Company's First COO". Adweek. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  16. ^ "Art 2017". Webby Awards. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  17. ^ Richard Hogan (15 March 2017). "Andrew Burmon Joins the Fatherly Family". Adweek. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  18. ^ "'Fatherly' Acquired by Some Spider, Pools Parenting Resources".
  19. ^ "Bustle Digital Buys Scary Mommy's Parent Company for $150 Million in Stock". 21 July 2021.
  20. ^ Mike Shields (18 June 2017). "How Fatherly turned a tiny website into a budding business that reaches 300 million people". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  21. ^ Madeline Stone (8 April 2015). "One of Thrillist's first employees got $2 million to launch a new parenting site for guys". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  22. ^ Rebecca Sun (13 September 2017). "Rep Sheet Roundup: 'Scandal' Star Bellamy Young Signs With Anonymous Content". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  23. ^ Cockar, Maryam (27 October 2017). "WPP Takes Stake in Fatherly". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 August 2019.