Drivetribe, a soon-to-launch digital media platform dedicated to motoring, has raised a $12m Series A from Breyer Capital, 21st Century Fox and others.
Breyer Capital, Atomico and other individual investors contributed $5.5m to the round in late August, while the 21st Century Fox $6.5m contribution was revealed today.
The London-based company is set to launch in November, aiming to become the top digital publishing home for motoring. It was co-founded by former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, former Top Gear Executive Producer Andy Wilman and serial technology and media entrepreneur Ernesto Schmitt.
“Our team recognized the huge untapped potential in the digital motoring sphere: there are over 400 million motoring fans on Facebook alone,” said Schmitt.
Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, suggested Drivetribe will utilise artificial intelligence in facilitating real audience engagement.
“In this new media world, the ability to facilitate audience engagement on a global scale is key to success and I look forward to collaborating with the Drivetribe team whose combination of creative and technical excellence will help them create the premier next-generation automotive media platform,” he added.
Drivetribe will support video, articles, social and interactive content – structured into different content streams called ‘tribes’, with these tribes being hosted by Clarkson, Hammond and May, along with invited stars, bloggers, writers and videographers.