TF1, France’s top commercial network, has acquired a majority share in MinuteBuzz, the French equivalent to BuzzFeed boasting 8 million subscribers.
The acquisition was announced Thursday by Olivier Abecassis, TF1’s head of digital and innovation, and Sylvia Tassan Toffola, managing director of TF1 Publicité.
MinuteBuzz, which allows brands to sponsor in real time articles matching their values, streams 600 videos per month, including 220 videos that are watched every month.
Co-founded in 2010 by Laure Lefebvre and Maxime Barbier, MinuteBuzz raised 300 000 euros in 2011 from investors, notably Patrice Magnard (the founder of Alapage.com and MaxiCours.com), Jérôme Lascombe (the founder of Hopscotch), and then 1 million euros in 2014 from Seventure Partners.
The acquisition of MinuteBuzz allows TF1 to ramp up the volume of video production and have a greater control over the production of branded content to reach millennial audiences, all of which is part of the mandate outlined by TF1 president Gilles Pelisson.
Going forward, MinuteBuzz will be producing more videos and exploring new technologies such as virtual reality, according to TF1.
