• by Sara Guaglione , October 17, 2018

Tastemade has raised $35 million in a Series E funding round. It plans to increase video content for millennials in new verticals and expand its ad sales team.

By the end of 2019, Tastemade plans to have more than 200 staffers, up from 160, according to The Wall Street Journal. Created in 2012, Tastemade has six studios worldwide, including in Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, London, Paris and Tokyo.

Tastemade launched local language channels in each market and expanded sales teams that work directly with local agencies and brands, resulting in over 500 domestic and global ad campaigns.

The company has grown its sponsored-content business by 50% in 2018, compared with the previous year, Larry Fitzgibbon, Tastemade’s cofounder-CEO, told WSJ.

Last year, Tastemade and Subway announced a strategic partnership to leverage the digital company’s insights to help the sandwich chain reach new consumers. Tastemade is helping Subway develop and market new sandwiches inspired by consumer trends.

Last year, Tastemade formed standalone verticals in Home & Design and Travel. The two now represent over 25% of advertising revenue for Tastemade, with sponsors like Zillow and Target.  

The company has also expanded its distribution with the launch of Tastemade TV, its 24/7 linear streaming network.

Tastemade TV features over 200 hours of original lifestyle programming on YouTube TV, Philo, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Videoand the Tastemade App.

The company recently signed a deal to launch with T-Mobile video services later this year.

Tastemade claims more than 3 billion monthly video views.