PureWow, the digital media company specializing in women's lifestyle content, has closed a $2.5 million Series Seed Preferred round of financing led by Bob Pittman's Pilot Group with participation by VaynerRSE, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Melo7Tech (Carmelo Anthony's Tech Fund), Great Oaks Venture Capital, Galvanize, and individuals such as Joni Evans, Mary Wells Lawrence, Jean Chatzky, Whoopi Goldberg and Andy Dunn (CEO/Founder Bonobos).

PureWow has seen incredible growth with its native-first approach to branded content with clients. Recent audience growth has attracted investors wanting to double down on their success. The fundraise will be used to: hire additional editorial staff to help build upon content creation in new and existing verticals; invest in additional video content; grow the PureWow readership through data-driven marketing that focuses on social, search, syndication and subscription; and invest and strengthen PureWow's tech and product resources to further engage with their audience and provide innovative solutions and native ad products to advertisers.

'PureWow has remained steadfast in building a premium brand consumers will recognize as best in class for women's lifestyle,' said Ryan Harwood, PureWow CEO. 'Quality content was and will continue to always be our main focus. Our unique voice combined with our ability to create truly unique native programs for brands has allowed us to stand out amongst the pack and compete with anyone in the digital landscape.'

Launched in 2010, PureWow has become the must-read destination for women ages 25-45 who crave the best in women's lifestyle content across fashion, beauty, recipes, home, entertainment, technology, books and money. The site's unique property value is that it covers under-the-radar discoveries, providing utility to women across the country who return daily for content they can't find elsewhere. PureWow reaches more than 6 million women monthly.

'PureWow has built a tremendous brand for an underserved female demographic and the business economics are impressive,' said Gary Vaynerchuk. 'Their know-how in creating cost-efficient native programs and their speed-to-market with custom content is remarkable and the margins are like nothing we've seen in the space.'

Previous backers include Pilot Group, the wowOwow group, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.

About PureWow:

PureWow is a digital media company that specializes in women's lifestyle content. Driven by its motto, 'Elevate the Everyday,' PureWow covers everything from fashion and beauty to food/recipes, travel, home, tech, books and more. Readers can check out PureWow's latest discoveries at PureWow.com follow on social, or sign up to get PureWow's emails. Brands that work with PureWow include: Cartier, Ghirardelli, LVMH, PepsiCo, Chanel, H&M, Nordstrom, Fidelity, American Express, and more.