The Lad Bible has appointed a former Yahoo and Disney executive and the founder of a leading media agency as advisers, as the rapidly growing social media site seeks to raise millions to fund an international expansion.
The brand, which aims to attract the young male readers that have rejected traditional lads’ magazines such as FHM and Zoo, is looking to raise as much as £25m from the potential sale of a stake to grow its business and invest in original video content.
To this end the three-year-old site’s founders have moved to beef up its board with the appointment of a new non-executive director, brought in a senior adviser and appointed a technology investment bank, GP Bullhound.
The Lad Bible has appointed Tom Toumazis, most recently the head of partnerships at Yahoo’s EMEA operation, as non-executive director.
Toumazis has held high profile positions at a string of media companies over the years including at Big Brother maker Endemol, newspaper publisher Mecom and at Disney-ABC-ESPN while working for the Walt Disney Company.
The company has also hired Jonathan Durden, the co-founder of media agency PHD, as a senior adviser.
“It’s a big statement for the Lad Bible Group to bring guys of the calibre of Tom and Jonathan into the business,” said Solly Solomou, the chief executive and co-founder of the irreverent and often controversial site. “I know they will help us as we continue to expand our understanding of youth audiences and scale our ambitions into the international space.”
The Lad Bible, which has launched a range of spin-offs including the Sport Bible, has shown rapid growth but there is limited financial data available about the private company.
According to the most recent accounts filed at Companies House, its shareholders had £198,000 at their disposal at the end of last year.
The Lad Bible has more than 10 million fans on Facebook and its app went to the top Apple’s app store in the “free news” section. An Android version is expected to launch later this month.
Toumazis has been tasked with helping push the commercial growth of the Lad Bible, including content development and international expansion.
“I’m very excited to be joining the board of such a vibrant and successful business which has such a clear set of ambitions about being a youth media brand, both in the UK and internationally,” said Toumazis.
Durden, who was once a housemate on Big Brother, has been brought on board to help develop media partnerships, mentor management and “bring his extensive creative flair” to develop the business and company culture.
“Tom brings with him huge experience and insight into global brand development and has a track record with some of the biggest media companies in the world,” said Solomou. “Jonathan has been an innovator in understanding the DNA of a creative company and how to pipeline incredible ideas.”
The Lad Bible’s expansion comes just weeks after lads’ magazines FHM and Zoo joined former rivals Nuts and Loaded in announcing their closure as readers migrate to online rivals.
