How a new media startup grew from 12 employees to 200 in a 18 months, and just landed $80 million to grow even more

pulse

April 24, 2018 11:57 AM

Culture Trip's founder says that the keys to his company's success are freelancers and flexibility.

Culture Trip is a fast-growing media site that just raised $80 million in its Series B funding round from a Dutch venture firm.
The company's CEO says that Culture Trip's success lies in its team of freelancers and its flexible content formatting.

A year and a half ago, media startup Culture Trip had a small online following and 12 employees.

Now, the site rakes in close to 15 million monthly unique visitors, and its 200 in-house employees are based across three continents. In addition to the company's full time staff, the site relies on 300 freelance contributors to write articles about the best food, sights, and shopping in their local neighborhoods.

Culture Trip CEO and founder Kris Naudts says his company's fast-growing fleet of freelancers gives his company a competitive edge on other media outlets.

"We commission content out of house, so we have relatively low overhead," Naudts said."That's the bit that set us apart -- the quality at scale."

Another factor, said Naudts, is the site's pliable formatting: the site delivers up content in a mix of mediums, ranging from articles to videos to illustrations.

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