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Funny Or Die Raises Mystery $3 Million

  • Reuters, Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11 AM
According to a regulatory filing cited by Reuters, Internet comedy site Funny Or Die raised $3 million in cash from a single, undisclosed investor for "in-kind contributions for marketing, publicity and promotional support for programming." In fact, it's not clear from the filing if the $3 million augments a $15 million investment reported earlier this year, or is simply just a part of that investment. The $3 million investment is the only filing Funny Or Die has made with the SEC.

HBO, owned by publicly traded Time Warner, is one of the possible investors, as the cable channel bought an equity stake in the comedy company earlier this summer. Sequoia Capital, one of the company's original VC backers, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Funny Or Die, which is supported by the actor Will Ferrell, has recently expanded its content from comedy-only to more general interest, offering cooking advice, gaming, extreme sports clips, as well as different kinds of comedy. The company has yet to match the success of its April 2007 debut clip "The Landlord" which featured Ferrell and a two-year-old named Pearl. The company says the clip has been viewed more than 60 million times.

Read the whole story at Reuters »

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