Meme-filled, link-aggregating site BuzzFeed has just finished a $15.5 million funding round, according to a TechCrunch report.
The series C funding was led by New Enterprise Associates with Lerer Ventures, Hearst Media, Softbank, and RRE Ventures.
BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti told PCMag in a statement:
"There is a huge opportunity to create a new kind of media company that is focused on making content for the social web. We looked around,didn't see anyone else doing it, so we decided raise a big round of financing to build it ourselves. Social media started with cute kittens and news about your friends but as it comes of age people are finding everything on social sites: entertainment, news, and information. The social web allows talented reporters to reach more people than ever before and have an unprecedented impact on the news cycle. It is a very exciting moment in the history of our industry."
The company is also announcing a few changes among its higher-ups. TechCrunch said NEA general partner Patrick Kerins will assume a spot on BuzzFeed's board, and Huffington Post co-founder Ken Lerer will assume the role of BuzzFeed's executive chairman.
Started in 2006 by Peretti, who also co-founded the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed is known for posting content that runs the gamut from poignant to odd. For example, last month BuzzFeed put together a compelling piece called "The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011," featuring some of the year's most compelling pictures. However, "The 25 Funniest AutoCorrects of 2011" is currently the most popular post on the site.
Conversely, BuzzFeed is also rife with cat memes, like "The 30 Most Important Cats of 2011."
TechCrunch noted that the funding news comes on the heels of a couple other important accomplishments for the site. In 2011, BuzzFeed increased its traffic three-fold to reach 25 million unique visitors per month. The company also made a high profile hire in December, landing Politico's Ben Smith as its new editor-in-chief. Smith is charged with expanding the site's coverage, launching new content sections, and adding to BuzzFeed's growing roster of editorial staff.
Peretti told TechCrunch of BuzzFeed's future: "It's so expensive competing against major media organizations. And now we can do it."