Almost Friday Media, the company behind the comedy channel @friday.beers and a host of other popular social media accounts, has raised a seed round of $6 million to fund their expansion and growth plans.
“We like to make self-deprecating jokes and not take ourselves too seriously. Stuff that represents the feelings we dream of all week and the magic of those two words: Almost Friday.”
The funding comes from an esteemed group of strategic investors across the media/entertainment, sports, and music industries. Investors include Tim Armstrong, Robert Greenhill, Lloyd Danzig’s Sharp Alpha Advisors, Northern Right Capital’s Matt Drapkin, Dreamscape Hospitality’s Scott Broder, Tom Ellis, and Eric Birnbaum, and Jimmy Miller, founder of Mosaic Media Group.
Created in late 2019 by brothers Jack, Max, and Sam Barrett, Almost Friday began as a collection of Instagram accounts that gained popularity as a relatable voice in weekend culture, sports, music, and character-driven comedy. Today their growing network comprises over 3.5+ million followers and delivers hundreds of millions of monthly impressions across a family of brands including Friday Beers, Almost Friday, Dr. Locks, Country Club Adjacent, DJ Press Play, Commence Suckdown, and Entrapranure.
The portfolio of social media content, podcasts, original music, and live events has amassed a highly engaged following of 18-34 year olds. The company has been profitable in every quarter since inception, fueled entirely by organic growth, and is now running multiple different business lines that each generate over $1 million in annual revenues. Some of their most successful campaigns have consisted of custom content designed for Bud Light, Sam Adams, and Bleacher Report.
“Almost Friday’s mission is to create coming-of-age, laugh out loud comedy that takes you back to National Lampoon, but done in a way that works in 2022,” said Jack Barrett, CEO. “We like to make self-deprecating jokes and not take ourselves too seriously. Stuff that represents the feelings we dream of all week and the magic of those two words: Almost Friday.”
The funding will support original content initiatives across Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, podcasts, and music programming, focusing on creators with unique comedic voices and highly engaged followings. It will also be used to support the development of Almost Friday’s brand/sponsorships business, live events, apparel lines, consumer products, hospitality licensing, and film/television projects.
Almost Friday has caught the attention of the entertainment industry for its creation of original comedy IP and is represented by William Morris Endeavor and Mosaic Media Group. The creators’ former agent at WME, Andrew Kenward, joined the company in August 2021 to lead all business initiatives as President/COO. The company is currently developing longer form scripted and unscripted film and television ideas with streaming services and production companies.
“We’re finding that even though we’re more digital than ever, people want to joke about the stuff we do with our friends in real life,” said Max Barrett, Chief Creative Officer. “Almost Friday is about remembering how good those feelings are and using them to bring people together.”