If you were a millennial in 2015, it was a good time to get news tailored to you. And if you were an online news site trying to provide news to millennials, it was a good time to raise money. Next year, though, things will get a lot tougher.
During 2015, Mashable, Business Insider, Vice, Buzzfeed, NowThis, Vox and Mic all received funding. If you extended the year by a month, you can add Bustle to the list, which announced an investment in December 2014. There were probably many others; as someone who reports about this space, I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit that it became hard to keep track. (Though all these sites may aim for the millennial reader, they’d all be happy reaching a broader audience.)