Fatherly is a digital
lifestyle brand
A lifestyle brand is a brand that is intended to embody the values, aspirations, interests, attitudes, or opinions of a group or a culture for marketing purposes. Lifestyle brands seek to inspire, guide, and motivate people, with the goal of maki ...
that provides news, expert advice, product recommendations and other resources for parents. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in New York City.
Overview
Fatherly offers articles, videos, and other digital content tailored to young fathers. The company has been described by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' as "
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...
meets
''Vice'' for parents".
While the site's content is geared toward men, half of Fatherly's audience are women.
Fatherly covers a variety of topics across health, science, play, relationships, personal finance, gear and parenting. It also has several content franchises including ''940 Weekends'', which focuses on activities; ''My Father, The…'', which provides first-person narratives from sons and daughters of famous parents; and The Fatherly Podcast, a streaming, conversation-based show.
History
In October 2014, when Fatherly.com was still in
beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...
, the company created a grant called The Fatherly Fund to help parents fund and complete projects for their children that they would not otherwise be able to afford.
Founded by Simon Isaacs and Michael Rothman, Fatherly launched in April 2015. The founders cited the lack of male-focused parenting content as inspiration for the company. Rothman further explained that he and Isaacs began Fatherly in part because "there are more diverse notions of family generally
ndthere should be a platform for insights, advice and product recommendations that provides a bigger tent for more of today's parents."
Fatherly was named one of Oprah's "favorite things" of 2016 and was noted by ''
Adweek'', ''
Digiday
''Digiday'' is an online trade magazine for online media founded in 2008 by Nick Friese. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London and Tokyo.
Description
''Digiday'' provides daily online news about advertising, publishing, a ...
'' and ''
CNBC
CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...
'' for its success with video targeting on Facebook. In June 2016, nearly 3 million unique visitors went to the site.
By 2017, Fatherly reached 75 million people on Facebook each week.
In early 2017, Fatherly received a
Webby Award
The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...
for "Best Parenting Site on the Internet." Later that same year, Fatherly hired Andrew Burmon as editor-in-chief of the site. Fatherly hired Michael Wertheim as the company's
Chief Operating Officer
A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...
.
In 2020, Fatherly was acquired by Some Spider Studios, the parent of
Scary Mommy
Scary Mommy is a website that produces content targeting mothers, specifically focusing on parenting, motherhood, current events, and pop culture
Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a ...
. In 2021,
Bustle Digital Group
''Bustle'' is an online American women's magazine founded in August 2013 by Bryan Goldberg. It positions news and politics alongside articles about beauty, celebrities, and fashion trends. By September 2016, the website had 50 million monthly rea ...
acquired Some Spider.
Funding
Fatherly raised an initial round of funding in 2015 for $2 million, which was led by
SoftTech VC. Other investors in the round included
Crosslink Capital
Crosslink Capital (founded 1989) is a venture capital firm with an asset management business that continues into the public equity market for fast-growing companies. Crosslink Capital has over $3.0 billion in assets under management that it inve ...
, Lerer Hippeau Ventures,
The Knight Foundation,
Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk (born Gennady Alexandrovich Vaynerchuk, November 14, 1975; commonly known by his alias Gary Vee) is an American businessman, author, speaker, and internet personality. He is a co-founder of the restaurant reservation software ...
and several angel investors.
In 2017 Fatherly raised its Series A funding round totaling $4 million, which was led by
BDMI with participation from SoftTech VC, Crosslink Capital,
WPP plc
WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companie ...
, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and the talent agency
UTA
Uta or UTA may refer to:
Universities
*University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States
*University of Texas at Austin, in the United States
*University of Tarapacá, in Chile
*University of Tampere, in Finland
Sports
* FC UTA Arad, a R ...
.
References
External links
*
{{Bustle Digital Group
Mass media companies based in New York City
Organizations established in 2015