Brian Bedol and Ken Lerer’s Bedrocket Media said Tuesday it has secured $15 million in funding from venture capital firm NEA.
Gotham-based Bedrocket will invest the cash in growing the company, which creates original content distributed on emerging cross-platform networks. It was founded in 2011 by CEO Bedol, the co-founder of Classic Sports Network and College Sports Television, in partnership with Ken Lerer, general partner of Lerer Ventures and co-founder of the Huffington Post.
“Bedrocket knows the value of content in a multiplatform world. We have a simple but revolutionary goal: to provide high-quality, low cost programming across screens,” Bedol said. “The old order – with its big, high-cost studios and gatekeepers – is crumbling, and the future belongs to nimble content creators who can take advantage of the seismic changes happening in the industry. We see a unique opportunity to become ‘cable in the cloud.'”
Patrick Kerins, general partner of NEA, said “Bedrocket is building a groundbreaking digital TV production company that paves the way for the proliferation of smart TVs and the continued growth in online video consumption.”
Bedrocket is an incubator for original content, a producer and distributor of video programming and a developer of cross-platform networks. This year is launched four YouTube networks and produced an independent feature film.
The YouTube nets include Official Comedy; Network A, an action sports network in partnership with Wasserman Media Group; Look TV, a style network in partnership with Full Picture Entertainment; and KickTV, a soccer channel in partnership with Major League Soccer.
Bedrocket has a joint venture with Interlude.fm and investments in innovative new media companies VHX, an independent distribution platform for filmmakers, and Full Screen, a next-generation digital media company powered by a network of YouTube channels.
Bedrocket exec produced “Sleepwalk With Me,” directed by writer Mike Birbiglia, which opened at Gotham’s IFC Center.
