Washington – SnagFilms, the documentary film site founded by
former AOL vice chairman Ted Leonsis, said on Tuesday it has raised $10 million
in a new round of funding aimed at expanding its distribution of independent
films across digital platforms and devices.
New investors New Enterprise
Associates (NEA) and Comcast Interactive Capital (CIC) joined previous backers
Leonsis and Steve Case, the co-founder and former chairman and CEO of AOL.
Leonsis said his
"profitable" company didn’t need to raise more capital, but saw
"overwhelming strategic value" in involving NEA and CIC, the
investment arm of Comcast.
SnagFilms plans to use a portion of the funds to,
for the first time, distribute fictional independent releases, and has hired
Bingham Ray, the former president of United Artists, October Films and Kimmel
Entertainment, to help lead that area.
In addition, the company plans to expand
its 15-year-old indieWIRE unit, a Web source of news, reviews and analysis of
independent film.
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