Viral publisher Playbuzz just raised $15 million from investors including Disney
Playbuzz generates viral content created by a combination of its 1 billion users and its network of more than 40,000 digital publishers, including: USA Today, The Daily MTV, Yahoo, and AOL.
The Israeli tech company plans to use the investment to enhance its platform and expand its sponsored content business, it said in a press release.
Business Insider interviewed founder and CEO Shaul Olmert last year after Playbuzz raised its previous round of funding - its $16 million Series B - where he revealed his ambition to make Playbuzz the YouTube of "interactive, high engagement experiences."
Olmert said in the press release announcing the latest investment: "The support of global leaders in media, such as Saban and Disney, will enable us to expand both our editorial reach and sponsored content business."
83North, Carmel Ventures and FirstTime Ventures also participated in the round. It brings Playbuzz's total funding to date up to around $25 million, according to CrunchBase.
Barak Pridor managing partner at Saban Ventures, who will now join Playbuzz's board of directors, explained his motivations for investing in the company: "Engaging content is the key to media consumption, and Playbuzz has positioned itself as the leading platform for media companies and brands to create and distribute such content across all devices."
In January 2015, Playbuzz was ranked as the number one most-shared website on Facebook:
Playbuzz removed itself from the monthly NewsWhip list of the most shared publishers on Facebook in late 2015 because, it says, Playbuzz is not a publisher.