Almost four years after Bree’s death on Lonelygirl15, the creators of one of the most engaging and popular original web series endemic to the YouTube generation are no longer producing video.
EQAL co-founders Miles Beckett (CEO) and Greg Goodfried (President) have long since abandoned serialized dramas in favor of building online communities around already established household brand names and entertainment properties. They devoted a portion of the $5 million in Series A funding the company raised back in 2008 to accomplish those community-building efforts (the other part of the cash was used to develop a technology platform and finance some of EQAL’s last web serials). Now, EQAL is raising more cash to build more online communities even better.
Based on recent SEC filings, Techcrunch reports the media company is looking to raise $3.5 million (of which, it’s raised $649,994 so far). I caught up with Beckett over e-mail to try to get more info about the funding round. I was moderately successful. While Beckett wouldn’t disclose who’s investing (in 2008 investors included Spark Capital, Ron Conway, Marc Andreessen, Georges Harik, Michael Parekh, Conrad Riggs, Scott Banister, and Cyan Banister) or EQAL’s revenue, he did talk about EQAL’s mission and trajectory:
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EQAL has come a long way in the past 2 years. We having shifted from producing video content to creating highly engaged online communities for celebrities and brand. We are taking scattered audience from across the web and unifying them within these online communities.
Current celebrities and brands for which EQAL is creating those online communities include, but is not limited to Paula Deen, Randy Jackson, Alicia Silverstone, Alison Sweeney, Lauren Conrad, Chelsea Kane, Taye Diggs, Elle & Blair Fowler, Michelle Phan, Kraft, Walgreens, HauteLook, and Smart Balance.
And a fun fact for all those still living in and/or nostalgic for the Breeniverse. The news about EQAL’s new raise comes almost exactly five years to the date after the first LG15 video was uploaded to YouTube.
