Recurrent Ventures Acquires Donut Media

Media firm Recurrent Ventures announced its latest acquisition this morning, the six-year-old publisher Donut Media, whose accessible automotive content has helped it build young audiences across social media and video platforms. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition will expand Recurrent Ventures’ presence in the automotive space, complementing its existing titles The Drive and Car Bibles. It also marks the 20th acquisition by Recurrent Ventures in its three-year lifespan, and the fifth this year. The 30-person Donut Media team will remain with the company, while its CEO and co-founder Matthew Levin transitions into a new role as the svp of video for Recurrent Ventures. The acquisition will be the first major foray into the world of video content for Recurrent Ventures, which hopes to use Levin's expertise to build out similar channels for other titles in its portfolio, said CEO Lance Johnson. “Over the next six to 12 months, we'll pick one vertical at a time where we think we have some potential on-screen talent that can work with Matt and his team,” Johnson told Adweek. “And we’ll just start as they did there: find a show that's a winner, invest in it and grow it.” What to Know About Mel Magazine’s New Owners, Recurrent Ventures A younger, social audience Donut Media's audience skews considerably younger than that of many automotive properties, and its team produces content primarily for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Snap, Levin told Adweek. The brand, which was cofounded by Ben Conrad and Nick Moceri alongside Levin, has 4.1 million followers on Facebook, 1.2 million followers on Instagram and 5.9 million subscribers on YouTube. In September, Donut Media fetched 94 million views across YouTube and Facebook, according to video analytics firm Tubular Labs. On YouTube, Donut Media has built a fanbase by creating original series such as HiLow, where it compares luxury and economy car parts, and Up to Speed, which offers funny but educational content about the history and culture of cars. The publisher attracts roughly 15 million unique visitors each month on the video platform, who watch between 78 and 100 million videos per month, according to Levin. Since 2015, its fans have watched more than 14 billion minutes of video, and Donut Media is the top automotive YouTube channel in the U.S., according to the publisher. Donut Media produces very little written content. Instead, its website serves primarily as a landing page for its merchandise efforts, which constitute a significant line of revenue for the company, according to Levin. He declined to offer revenue figures for the company. The lucrative, long-term nature of auto advertising The audience of young automotive enthusiasts help Recurrent Ventures round out the vertical, as The Drive and Car Bibles cater to an older, more affluent readership, Johnson said. With Donut Media, Recurrent Ventures can capture car hobbyists early in their life and graduate them from property to property to match their life stage, said Dan Elddine, svp, data and technology at Essence. Given the lucrative and long-term nature of auto advertising, the lifetime value of a devoted fan makes such a pipeline an invaluable source of revenue. The acquisition also lays the groundwork for Recurrent Ventures to expand its presence in video, an area it has yet to invest significantly in. Levin brings a team with the technical expertise to create video content for Recurrent Ventures’ other verticals, opening up a new vehicle for advertising. The verticals most ripe for video are its defense, outdoor and science sections, specifically the titles Task & Purpose, Field & Stream and Popular Science, Johnson said. Still, a proven track record in one subject matter is no guarantee of replicable success, Elddine cautioned. Levin and his team at Donut Media used humor and originality to find traction in the world of automotive video, but recreating that feat in an unfamiliar vertical will be challenging. “The way people are absorbing Donut Media content doesn’t necessarily map over to Recurrent’s other properties,” Elddine said. “There are definitely benefits from the technical perspective, but are they going to achieve the same scale and success with the other verticals? I'm not totally sold on that.”

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Recurrent Ventures Chases Younger Video-Hungry Car Enthusiasts With Donut Media Acquisition

The brand is Recurrent’s first major foray into video and social

Mark Stenberg

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