Fexy Media, a Mercer Island-based company focused on acquiring millennial-minded food brands, just secured $6 million in funding, according to an SEC filing.
Austin’s Tritium Partners led the latest investment and Fexy’s $10 million round last year.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Fexy Media acquired its sixth brand, Simply Recipes. Fexy’s co-founder and CEO, Cliff Sharples, confirmed Monday that part of the most recent round went toward acquiring the millennial-focused recipe blog. Simply Recipes joined other popular food sites Serious Eats, Roadfood and Relish in Fexy’s portfolio.
“We’re excited that we continue to be supported by Tritium,” said Cliff Sharples. “They’re a great financial partner and as we continue to grow and expand, we’ll continue to look for opportunities to fuel the company’s growth with additional capital.”
Cliff Sharples founded and runs Fexy Media with his wife Lisa Sharples. Previously, Lisa Sharples spent six years running Allrecipes, another Seattle-based food site catering to millennials. During her tenure, she helped Allrecipes develop a large audience and secure a $175 million acquisition.
Before Fexy, Cliff Sharples served in executive roles at Austin vacation rental network HomeAway and Seattle comedy site Cheezburger.
“The whole premise behind Fexy, when we started it, was to create a new media company that’s digital-first, that’s really the next generation’s go-to set of brands for food and lifestyle-oriented content,” Cliff Sharples told GeekWire. “So as we make investments we’re looking for those brands that have gained traction with that audience and both Serious Eats and Simply Recipes, as the number one and number two highest indexing sites for millennials in the digital food space, really represent that strategy.”
According to Cliff Sharples, Fexy Media has targeted a $40 million fund from Tritium Partners for its initial set of acquisitions. This latest round of financing constitutes approximately $25 million in capital raised from Tritium’s fund so far.
