Brazen raises $2.5M seed to fund its own investigations
What's the deal? BrazenDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a journalist-founded storytelling studio, has raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Lotus Singapore GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Founded by journalists and authors Bradley Hope and Tom Wright, the company reports and publishes original work through The Foundry, Whale HuntingDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Brazen FMDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? Brazen combines investigative reporting with creative development, publishing directly to readers and listeners while developing selected stories with partners in publishing, documentary, television and film. The new money will fund fresh investigations and the legal and business work needed to manage rights and partnerships.
Why now? The raise comes as Brazen expands its output. The Foundry, its new digital magazine, launched on September 18 with The Tell, Hope's investigation into former Supreme Court litigator and poker player Tom Goldstein.
Its pipeline also includes The Missing Masterpiece of Tehran , a Random House AudiobookDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Original due September 29, plus development projects such as Fat Leonard , Billion Dollar Whale , and The Illuminator , made with Farah Halime's London-based Stonebaby ProductionsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Brazen also holds a strategic relationship with SK Global EntertainmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the studio behind Crazy Rich Asians .
Between the lines: The founders frame the funding as a way to back their own editorial judgment. "We built Brazen so we could back our own judgment about a story," said Hope. "This investment lets us do more of that work and publish it ourselves."
Lotus Singapore Group's executive chairman, Nirmal Singh, said the firm is backing a long-term bet on original journalism. "Original reporting is the foundation of Brazen's business," he said. "Bradley and Tom have the experience to find compelling stories and the ambition to bring them to audiences around the world."
The signal: At $2.5 million, the round sits in the upper tier of seed deals by size, a notable amount for a studio built on journalism rather than software. It reflects investor appetite for founder-led media that owns both the reporting and the downstream rights to adapt it.
Read more: podnews.net
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
