Female-focused content site Sugar Inc. has raised another $15 million in late-stage venture funding led by new investor Institutional Venture Partners, along with existing investor Sequoia Capital. As
BoomTown reports, Sugar has now raised a total of $46 million, and plans to "use the
funds for brand extensions, acquisitions, and international growth." In 2009, Sugar broke off ties with NBC Universal by buying back its shares and got a Series C funding of $16 million from Sequoia.
Since then, several Web giants, including Yahoo, have been interested in acquiring it, but its husband-and-wife Co-founders Brian and Lisa Sugar have wanted to remain independent, according to
BoomTown. For better or worse, "Sugar, which runs the flagship PopSugar.com site, is in a media space that is both competitive and fast-growing," BoomTown writes. Sequoia was an earlier venture
investor, having put $5 million into the start-up in late 2006. In the last year, according to Sugar, it grew its audience to over 20 million unique visitors per month, drove over $250 million in
commerce, and reached profitability.