About Refinery29
Refinery29 is a Media & Entertainment company based in New York (United States) founded in 2004, and was acquired by Sundial Media Group in April 2024. Womens fashion and lifestyle content is delivered digitally. Refinery29 has raised $137.23 million across 8 funding rounds from investors including VICE, Hearst and WarnerMedia. Refinery29 has completed 1 acquisition, including Socialbomb. Refinery29 was last valued at $500 million in July 2016. Its website refinery29.com draws about 4.8 million monthly visits. Refinery29 offers products and services including Beauty News, Horoscopes, Fashion Articles, and Money Diaries. Its focus areas include Internet First Media, Lifestyle, Demographic and Women. Its legal entity is REFINERY29, INC. Its competitors include Popsugar, Bustle and Brit + Co; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Refinery29 was founded in 2004 in New York, United States, as a digital media company in the fashion and lifestyle sector. A website and newsletter format are utilized to provide editorial content on womens style. Readers are connected to commerce options and the fashion community through these platforms, with operations centered in the United States.
- Headquarters New York, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website category News and Media
- Website refinery29.com/en-us
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram YouTube
- Acquired by Vice Media (Oct 2019)
- Legal Name Refinery29, Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$137.23M (USD)
in 8 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$8M (USD), Series E
May 2019
- InvestorsVICE
& 12 more
- Investments & Acquisitions
- Acquired by
Products & Services of Refinery29
Refinery29 offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Beauty News, Horoscopes, Fashion Articles, and Money Diaries.
Delivers updates on beauty trends and products
Offers astrological insights and weekly forecasts
Provides style guides and shopping recommendations
Shares personal finance stories and advice
Apps and channels of Refinery29
its YouTube channel Refinery29 has 3.15M subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Refinery29
The most watched videos on Refinery29's YouTube channel, Refinery29 (3.15M subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on Refinery29.
Funding Insights of Refinery29
Refinery29 has successfully raised a total of $137.23M across 8 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series E round of $8 million completed in May 2019. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $137.23M
- Total Rounds 8
- Last Round Series E — $8M
- First Round $500,000
(Feb 2010)
- Investors Count 11
All 8 funding rounds of Refinery29 with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2019 | $8M | Series E | – | Discovery, WarnerMedia | – |
| Jul 2016 | $45M | Series E | $500M | Turner | |
| Apr 2015 | $50M | Series D | – | WPP, Scripps Networks Interactive | – |
| Oct 2013 | $20M | Series C | – | Stripes | – |
| Jan 2013 | $3.53M | Series B | – | – | – |
| Jan 2013 | $5.6M | Series B | – | – | |
| Jul 2011 | $4.61M | Series A | – | Floodgate, First Round Capital | – |
| Feb 2010 | $500,000 | Seed | – | – | – |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 2016 | $500M | •••••••• |
Last known valuation $500M (Jul 2016). 13 investors in total: 13 institutional.
Investors in Refinery29
Refinery29 has secured backing from 13 investors, including institutional and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include VICE, Hearst and WarnerMedia.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Global investments are made in product-led growth companies. | stripes.co | New York, United States | ||
Early-stage investments are focused on by Floodgate in US startups. | floodgate.com | Menlo Park, United States | ||
US focused seed and early-stage VC firm | firstround.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
USA focused VC firm investing in seed and early stage startups | 2010 | lererhippeau.com | New York, United States | |
Lead Edge Capital is focused on growth equity investments in technology. | leadedge.com | New York, United States | ||
Warner Bros. Discovery is recognized as a global media and entertainment company. | corporate.discovery.com | |||
A portfolio of media networks and sports channels is managed. | 1990 | warnermedia.com | New York, United States | |
Content marketing services are provided by WPP globally. | 1971 | wpp.com | London, United Kingdom | |
News and entertainment television channels are broadcast by Turner. | 1970 | turner.com | Atlanta, United States | |
Lifestyle television networks and digital media platforms are operated. | 1994 | scrippsnetworksinteractive.com | Knoxville, United States |
Investor details for Refinery29
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Refinery29
145 people are tracked at Refinery29 (49 in leadership, 2 in board & advisors, 94 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Jacquie Penn | Executive Director | Leadership |
Zeeshan Rashid | CFO Commercials & Branded Entertainment | Leadership |
Sonia Braga | VP & Head of International HR | Leadership |
George Rogers | Chief Client Officer | Leadership |
Katherine C. | Executive Vice President Business Development | Leadership |
Emery Coopersmith | Group Creative Director, North America Team Lead | Leadership |
Morten Grubak | Global Executive Creative Director VICE / Virtue Futures | Leadership |
Chris Garbutt | Chief Creative Officer Vice Media Group & President Virtue | Leadership |
Peter Gaffney | Interim President, Global TV | Leadership |
Alexandra Brown | Associate Business Director | Leadership |
Archie Harding | Associate Creative Director | Leadership |
Robert Destefano | VP - Controller | Leadership |
Trevor Gill | Vice President, Sports Development | Leadership |
Edgar Jaramillo | Sr. Director Unscripted | Leadership |
John Montoya | General Manager | Leadership |
Ben Tuber | Art Director | Leadership |
Andrew Freston | Vp, Unscripted VICE Studios | Leadership |
Francis Sevier | Operations Director | Leadership |
Tarek Khalil | Regional Managing Director, MEA | Leadership |
Evangelos Kleiman | Managing Director | Leadership |
125 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Refinery29
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Investments & Acquisitions by Refinery29
Refinery29 has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include Socialbomb.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henna-based hair coloring products are manufactured by Socialbomb. | socialbomb.com | New York, United States | 2008 | May 2013 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Refinery29
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
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- Complete history
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Timeline of Refinery29
7 dated milestones of Refinery29 across 20 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Refinery29 is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $500K.
- Acquisition Acquires Socialbomb.
- Milestone Reaches Minicorn status.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series E, of $8.0M.
- Exit Acquired by Vice Media.
- Exit Acquired by Sundial Media Group.
Competitors of Refinery29
Refinery29 has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Popsugar, Bustle and Brit + Co.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| popsugar.com | 2006 | San Francisco, United States | $46M | 514 | A women focused lifestyle brand | |
| bustle.com | 2013 | New York, United States | $50.5M | 524 | Bustle is operated as a digital media platform for lifestyle and entertainment content. | |
| brit.co | 2011 | San Francisco, United States | $47.85M | 6 | Creative DIY tutorials, courses, and tools are offered online. |
Detailed competitors of Refinery29
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Web traffic of Refinery29
The website of Refinery29 (refinery29.com) receives about 4.8M visits a month and ranks #14,326 among all websites worldwide, #1,363 in News and Media.
- Monthly visits4.8M
▲ 1.2% vs previous month
- Unique visitors3.2M
per month
- Global rank#14,326
among all websites
- Category rank#1,363
News and Media
- Bounce rate66%
- Pages per visit2.1
- Average visit55 sec
- DevicesDesktop 22% · Mobile 78%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Refinery29. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nymag.com | 100% | 10.5M | #6,328 | View details | |
thecut.com | thecut.com | 88% | #12,889 | – | |
| glamour.com | 87% | 5.2M | #13,396 | View details | |
| cosmopolitan.com | 85% | #2,673 | View details | ||
| vogue.com | 81% | 16M | #4,432 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Refinery29
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in DTC Media Innovators
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Refinery29 (DTC Media Innovators) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Multi-category news is delivered through an app-based platform. | 2016 | Arlington, Virginia, United States | USD 30 M | 356 | ||
Online platform publishing content focusing on investment | 2011 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | USD 60.4 M | |||
Subscription-based sports media is delivered to local premium audiences. | 2016 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | USD 134.42 M |
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Related news about Refinery29
Complete news archive for Refinery29
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
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Frequently Asked Questions about Refinery29
Refinery29 was founded in 2004 and raised its 1st funding round 6 years after it was founded.
Refinery29 is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Refinery29 is a funded company, having raised a total of $137.23M across 8 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $500K, raised on Feb 2010.
Refinery29 was founded in 2004 in New York, United States, as a digital media company in the fashion and lifestyle sector. A website and newsletter format are utilized to provide editorial content on womens style. Readers are connected to commerce options and the fashion community through these platforms, with operations centered in the United States.
Refinery29 offers Beauty News, Horoscopes, Fashion Articles, and Money Diaries.
Refinery29 has made 1 acquisition, including Socialbomb.
Refinery29 has 13 investors. Key investors include VICE, Hearst, WarnerMedia, Lerer Hippeau, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The valuation of Refinery29 is $500M as of Jul 2016.
Refinery29 operates through Refinery29, Inc..
Yes. Refinery29 was acquired by Vice Media in October 2019.
The website of Refinery29 receives about 4.8 million visits a month and ranks #14,326 among all websites worldwide.