- Mighty Networks — a premiere SaaS platform for creators and brands to start and grow communities — announced recently it has closed a $50 million Series B funding round. These are the details.
Mighty Networks — a premiere SaaS platform for creators and brands to start and grow communities — announced recently it has closed a $50 million Series B funding round. This round of funding is led by Owl Ventures with Ziff Capital Partners and LionTree Partners joining existing investors Intel Capital, Marie Forleo, Gretchen Rubin, Dan Rosensweig, Reid Hoffman, BBG Ventures, Lucas Venture Group, and Great Oaks Venture Capital.
Mighty Networks is building a new creator middle class founded on community memberships, events, and live online courses. And established creators using Mighty Networks include international yoga teacher Adriene Mishler, XPrize and Singularity University founder Peter Diamandis, bestselling author Luvvie Ajayi Jones, comedian Amanda Seales, and Girlboss founder Sophia Amoruso. Established brands that are using Mighty Networks include the TED conference, apparel company Oiselle, and wellness scheduling platform MINDBODY.
Mighty Networks’ standout offering is The Business Plan — which is where a new creator can tap community memberships, events, and live online courses to make it not just possible, but easy to launch with digital subscriptions and payments. And it joins Mighty Pro where established brands, organizations, and successful creators are flocking to Mighty Networks’ complete offering delivered on their own branded iOS, iPad, and Android apps available in the Apple App and Google Play Stores.
Before Mighty Networks, founder Gina Bianchini was the CEO and co-founder of Ning, where she pioneered the opportunity for early creators and brands to build their own social networks. And she led the company’s rapid growth to three million Ning Networks created and about 100 million users around the world in 3 years.
The company plans to use this new capital to fund rapid product development across media types, payment options, and movement into new markets. And this new capital takes the total Mighty Networks has raised to $67 million.
KEY QUOTES:
“Content alone will kill the creator economy. We can’t build a thriving creator movement on an exhausting, unfair dynamic where content creators rent audiences from big tech platforms, are required to produce a never-ending stream of content, and get paid pennies for it, if they get paid at all. Creators need to own their own community on the Internet, where members meet each other and get results and transformation from courses, memberships, and events. As more creators, brands, and coaches adopt this shift, we have the opportunity to unlock new forms of ownership and a thriving creator middle class.”
— Mighty Networks founder and CEO Gina Bianchini
“We were impressed by Mighty Networks even before we met the company. No company in this space has more loyal, passionate believers. When we saw firsthand that creators could successfully build paid communities and online courses on a Mighty Network with as few as 30 members, we wanted to be a part of unlocking this creator middle class for a million more creators. It’s a testament to founders Gina Bianchini, Tim Herby, and Thomas Aaron that Mighty Networks has made it so easy for new creators and established brands to create successful communities people need now more than ever.”
— Amit Patel, Managing Director at Owl Ventures, the largest dedicated education technology-focused venture fund
