Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on May 5, 2018 7:38:46 GMT -6
variety.com/2018/digital/news/comcast-nbcu-zola-wedding-registry-1202796684/
variety : Comcast Leads $100 Million Round in Zola, Wedding-Registry Startup, Joined by NBCU
Wedding-planning and commerce startup Zola has banked $100 million in funding, led by existing investor Comcast Ventures — and Comcast’s NBCUniversal has joined the matrimonial party as an investor and media partner.
With the funding, NBCU will work with Zola on “both promotional and commercial partnership opportunities across the NBCU portfolio that drive mutual value and accelerate growth,” Maggie Suniewick, president of NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises, said in announcing the investment Thursday.
The Peacock has already worked with the startup: In February, Zola sponsored the live TV wedding on NBC’s “Today” show between Jordon Taylor and Kyle Otte — with WWE superstar John Cena acting as the officiant (pictured above). In addition, Zola has a brand-integration deal with NBCU’s E! for the cable network’s coverage of the British royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19.
“NBCUniversal is excited to co-invest with Comcast Ventures to provide Zola with both financial and strategic support,” said Suniewick.
Zola, founded in 2013, has raised a total of $140 million and has about 110 employees. The latest Series D round gives it a valuation of around $600 million, Bloomberg reported.
Along with NBCU and Comcast Ventures, which had previously invested in Zola, Goldman Sachs also participated in the funding round. Other investors include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Canvas Ventures, and Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner (brother of Jared Kushner).
The New York-based startup says that to date, more than 500,000 couples have registered on the website (zola.com) to manage gift registries and/or guest lists. Zola offers a marketplace of about 60,000 products from 600 different brands.
Shan-Lyn Ma, Zola’s founder and CEO, previously served as an exec at two ecommerce companies, Gilt Groupe and Chloe + Isabel, and before that worked as a marketing manager at Yahoo.