About Thrillist
Thrillist is a Media & Entertainment company based in New York (United States) founded in 2005, and was acquired by Penske Media Corporation in June 2026. Digital content on food, travel, health, and lifestyle is published. Thrillist has raised $69.1 million across 3 funding rounds from investors including Penske Media Corporation, Axel Springer and Lerer Hippeau. Thrillist has completed 1 acquisition, including JackThreads. Its website thrillist.com draws about 1 million monthly visits. Thrillist offers products and services including Travel Guides and Event Guides. Its focus areas include Internet First Media, Lifestyle, Thematic and Diversified. Its legal entity is THRILLIST MEDIA GROUP, INC. Its competitors include Brightly, LittleThings and Puck; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Thrillist was founded in 2005 in New York, United States, as a digital publication in the media sector. Content is offered on topics including food, drink, entertainment, nightlife, gadgets, and gear, with coverage in the U.S. and U.K. Daily newsletters are distributed, featuring suggestions for local restaurants and news updates. Revenues are generated primarily through advertisements.
- Headquarters New York, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website category News and Media
- Website thrillist.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram YouTube
- Acquired by Penske Media Corporation (Jun 2026)
- Legal Name Thrillist Media Group, Inc.
- Total Equity Funding$69.1M (USD)
in 3 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$54M (USD), Series B
Sep 2015
- InvestorsPenske Media Corporation
& 4 more
- Investments & Acquisitions
- Acquired byPenske Media Corporation
(Jun 2026)
Products & Services of Thrillist
Thrillist offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Travel Guides and Event Guides.
Platform for discovering destinations and travel recommendations
Service offering tips on events and road trips for users
Apps and channels of Thrillist
its YouTube channel Eater has 1.09M subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Thrillist
The most watched videos on Thrillist's YouTube channel, Eater (1.09M subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on Eater.
Funding Insights of Thrillist
Thrillist has successfully raised a total of $69.1M across 3 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $54 million completed in September 2015. 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 $69.1M
- Total Rounds 3
- Last Round Series B — $54M
- First Round $2M
(Jun 2005)
- Investors Count 4
All 3 funding rounds of Thrillist 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2015 | $54M | Series B | – | – | |
| Aug 2012 | $13.1M | Series A | – | Oak Investment Partners | |
| Jun 2005 | $2M | Seed | – | – | – |
5 investors in total: 5 institutional.
Investors in Thrillist
Thrillist has secured backing from 5 investors, including institutional and venture fund investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Penske Media Corporation, Axel Springer and Lerer Hippeau.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital investments are made in disruptive growth companies. | oakvc.com | Greenwich, United States | ||
USA focused VC firm investing in seed and early stage startups | 2010 | lererhippeau.com | New York, United States | |
Provider of news media, digital content, and technology-based journalism | 1946 | axelspringer.com | Berlin, Germany | |
PE and VC fund focused on fintech, Adtech, gaming, eCommerce, and multiple sectors | softbank.com | Newton, United States | ||
Content on digital media corporations is published across multiple platforms. | 2003 | pmc.com | Los Angeles, United States |
Investor details for Thrillist
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 Thrillist
12 people are tracked at Thrillist (8 in leadership, 4 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
YAKUBU ALADEOLA AKINDELE | CEO | Leadership |
Ellie Krupnick | Executive Director, Editorial Operations | Leadership |
Talia Baiocchi | General Manager | Leadership |
Stefania Orrù | Head, Production | Leadership |
Lizzie Munro | Editorial Director | Leadership |
Michelle Fox | Director, Production | Leadership |
Stephen Pelletteri | Executive Director & EP, Video | Leadership |
Kisai Ponce | Director Of Audience Development and Social Video | Leadership |
Adam Rich | Senior Advisor | Team |
Jordan Shalhoub | Supervising Producer | Team |
Jill Dehnert | Group Publisher | Team |
Lucy Morales Carlisl | Post-Production Supervisor | Team |
Complete people profiles for Thrillist
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 Thrillist
Thrillist has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 1 company. Notable acquisitions include JackThreads.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Men's fashion products are retailed online by JackThreads. | jackthreads.com | New York, United States | 2008 | Jun 2010 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Thrillist
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
- Acquired stakes
- Deal sources
- Complete history
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Thrillist
5 dated milestones of Thrillist across 21 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Thrillist is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $2.0M.
- Acquisition Acquires JackThreads.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $54.0M.
- Exit Acquired by Penske Media Corporation.
Competitors of Thrillist
Thrillist has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include Brightly, LittleThings and Puck.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| brightly.eco | 2018 | San Francisco, United States | $1.9M | 185 | Online platform offering diversified lifestyle news | |
| littlethings.com | 2014 | New York, United States | 93 | Digital media platform with inspirational content | ||
| puck.news | 2021 | Brooklyn, United States | $20M | Blogs on Hollywood, media, fashion, and related topics are published. |
Detailed competitors of Thrillist
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Thrillist
The website of Thrillist (thrillist.com) receives about 1M visits a month and ranks #63,023 among all websites worldwide, #4,050 in News and Media.
- Monthly visits1M
▼ 2.7% vs previous month
- Unique visitors713.7K
per month
- Global rank#63,023
among all websites
- Category rank#4,050
News and Media
- Bounce rate60%
- Pages per visit1.6
- Average visit50 sec
- DevicesDesktop 32% · Mobile 68%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Thrillist. 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 | |
| laist.com | 97% | 1.7M | #37,745 | View details | |
| thetakeout.com | 95% | 3.7M | #22,940 | View details | |
| huffpost.com | 90% | 40.4M | #1,635 | View details | |
| usatoday.com | 90% | 134.6M | #364 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Thrillist
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 Thrillist (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 Thrillist
Complete news archive for Thrillist
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
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Frequently Asked Questions about Thrillist
Thrillist was founded in 2005.
Thrillist is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Thrillist is a funded company, having raised a total of $69.1M across 3 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $2M, raised on Jun 2005.
Thrillist was founded in 2005 in New York, United States, as a digital publication in the media sector. Content is offered on topics including food, drink, entertainment, nightlife, gadgets, and gear, with coverage in the U.S. and U.K. Daily newsletters are distributed, featuring suggestions for local restaurants and news updates. Revenues are generated primarily through advertisements.
Thrillist's top competitors include Brightly, LittleThings and Puck.
Thrillist offers Travel Guides and Event Guides.
Thrillist has made 1 acquisition, including JackThreads.
Thrillist has 5 investors. Key investors include Penske Media Corporation, Axel Springer, Lerer Hippeau, SoftBank, and Oak Investment Partners.
Thrillist operates through Thrillist Media Group, Inc..
Yes. Thrillist was acquired by Penske Media Corporation in June 2026.
The website of Thrillist receives about 1 million visits a month and ranks #63,023 among all websites worldwide.