Jul 21, 2021 - Economy

Some Spider Studios to be acquired by BDG Media

Sara Fischer

Vinit Bharara, founder/CEO of Some Spider Studios. Photo: Some Spider Studios

BDG Media (formerly Bustle Digital Group) is acquiring Some Spider Studios, the media company home to parenting brands Fatherly, Scary Mommy and The Dad, the company announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: The deal will give BDG Media the scale it needs before exploring an IPO later this year via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company.)

Details: According to Axios reporting last year, Some Spider Studios brought in an estimated $35 million in revenue last year, including $5 million in profit.

Some Spider Studios' properties will be wrapped into a new parenting portfolio within BDG that will also include BDG's parenting site Romper. The unit will be led by Emma Rosenblum, chief content officer, Lifestyle & Parenting. The publications' brands will remain separate and distinct.
As Axios has previously reported, the roughly 120-person company is run by Vinit Bharara. Bharara launched Some Spider Studios in 2014 with $5 million of his own capital after selling diapers.com, the site he co-founded, to Amazon for more than $500 million in 2010.

Bharara tells Axios he plans to depart the company upon its acquisition. "I plan on starting something new and exciting that involves my best friend and former co-founder Marc Lore, and a bunch of other people. Stay Tuned!"

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, which broke the news, the deal values Some Spider Studios at $150 million.

The big picture: This is the ninth acquisition for BDG Media. The company also owns Bustle, Elite Daily, Input, Inverse, Mic, Nylon, Romper, W and The Zoe Report.

Go deeper: Bustle Digital Group formally rebrands as BDG ahead of anticipated IPO

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Some Spider Studios to be acquired by BDG Media

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