Tuesday, April 23, 2013
TasteMade Aims To Be The Next Food Network, But Online
It's increasing a world where online video distribution channels (YouTube, Hulu) are more important than the old-fashioned broadcast and cable television -- and where online video channels are helping to pave and define a new way of reaching audiences and pioneering content. Another player in the space has recently emerged in Los Angeles, TasteMade--this time, targeting food. The startup said recently that it now has over 100 food channels, covering food, travel, cooking, and more across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and has scored some funding to grow out its network.
TasteMade's online channels--featuring culinary tours of different countries, recipes, and much more--are all aimed at attracting a large, culinary, food-focused audience online, in the same way that such efforts as the Food Network did years ago during the cable revolution. TasteMade's founders said they believe that there's a similar opportunity today on YouTube as how the cable industry launched "category-defining" brands in food and lifestyle a generation ago. The firm did not say it directly, but it is looking at the huge success that cable television's Food Network--owned by Scripps and the Tribune Company--gained by riding the rise of cable television in the 1990's.
TasteMade is backed by Redpoint Ventures, and announced $5.3M in a Series A funding round last month. The firm's founders are Larry Fitzgibbon, Steven Kydd, and Joe Perez. The firm said the funding in the company was led by Geoff Yang.