Meet Cute, a New York-based podcast company that focuses on romantic comedies, has secured more than $3 million in funding from a group of investors, including Shari Redstone’s Advancit Capital and venture capital firm Union Square Ventures.
Meet Cute CEO Naomi Shah did not disclose the exact dollar amounts from each company, but revealed that their investment was further supported by a series of private investors from both the entertainment industry and financial sector.
Created last year, Meet Cute produces and distributes original romantic comedies in podcast form that focus on “providing the happiness and hope that have become synonymous with the timeless genre,” according to a statement. Developed in three five-minute chapters, each episode will be its own story lasting 15-minutes that relies on the romantic comedy formula that ends in happily ever after.
Meet Cute has already produced 21 podcasts, nine that were released in December with 12 completed in January. Meet Cute is available on Apple Podcast, Google, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram and Newsletter.
The investment will go to utilizing production and editing facilities in both Los Angeles and New York; a fund that will pay writers $1,000 for their scripts to be developed in a podcast; and multiple voice talent who will anchor each podcast Meet Cute produces. Meet Cute will retain intellectual property rights on the scripts they produce, and will have money earmarked to option scripts and pitches that can be developed for other multi-media platforms.
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Shah said: “The podcast space is evolving quickly and rapidly moving beyond interviews and infotainment. In creating the company, we are essentially the classic ‘Nora Ephron movie’ in podcast form where listeners can escape the real world for a short period of time, and enjoy scripted storytelling that restores the human condition.”
Union Square Ventures managing partner Andy Weisman said: “We have been looking for companies that are disruptors in this space, and were immediately attracted to the nimbleness that Naomi presented to us and Meet Cute’s ability to find quality material and pair it with voice talent for a quick turnaround.”