The Skimm

The Skimm (styled theSkimm) is an American media company, founded in 2012 by Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, providing a subscription-only newsletter. The newsletter is a digest of news stories intended to be simple and easy to read.

theSkimm, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryNews media
Founded2012 (2012)
Headquarters
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
Danielle Weisberg
Carly Zakin
ProductsThe Daily Skimm
Skimm Ahead
MembersOver 7 million
Websitewww.theskimm.com

History
Zakin (left) and Weisberg interviewed by Ashley Graham in 2020

The Skimm was started in 2012, when founders Weisberg and Zakin left their jobs as producers at NBC.[1]

In June 2016, theSkimm raised $8 million in Series B funding to move into video with the launch of Skimm Studios. The round was led by 21st Century Fox and included early backers RRE Ventures, Homebrew and Greycroft Partners.[2]

In the fall of 2016, theSkimm interviewed 12 of the major candidates for U.S. President and registered 110,000 people to vote in the 2016 election.[3][4]

On March 15, 2018, theSkimm raised a $12 million funding round led by Google Ventures, along with Spanx founder Sara Blakely. [5]

In October 2018, The Skimm announced that they have over 7 million subscribers.[6]

In April 2019, theSkimm acquired texting platform Purple.[7]

Products and Services

The Daily Skimm is the company's daily email newsletter. It focuses on a short, simple, and easy-to-read version of the news, and is marketed to urban women aged 22–34.[8] As of November 2016, the newsletter has over 4 million subscribers.[9]

In 2016, theSkimm launched the Skimm Ahead app for iOS, which directly inserts events into its subscribers' calendars.[10][11][12]

On March 4, 2019, theSkimm launched its first daily news podcast, Skimm This. Available weekday evenings at 5 p.m. ET, the podcast breaks down the news of the day and explains the context and clarity of each story and why it's important. It's the second podcast launched by theSkimm after previously launching Skimm'd from the Couch in 2018.

Criticism

theSkimm has been criticized for using a tone and writing style that is infantile and over-simplified, taking on the assumption that their mostly female readership is incapable of understanding complex and nuanced issues. [13]

See also

References
  1. "Roommates Carly Zakin And Danielle Weisberg Quit Jobs At NBC To Help You Skim News Every Morning". Business Insider. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  2. "Fox Will Fund TheSkimm's Move Into Video With $8 Million Round". Bloomberg.com. June 1, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  3. "2016 Election Candidates". theSkimm. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  4. Landsbaum, Claire. "This Start-up Registered a Mind-Blowing 95,000 Women to Vote". The Cut. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  5. "TheSkimm is raising $12 million from Google Ventures and other investors to build its subscription business". Recode. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  6. Malone, Noreen (October 28, 2018). "The Skimm Has the Ear of Millions of Women. What Are They Going to Do With It?". The Cut.
  7. "TheSkimm Acquires Texting Platform Purple". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  8. "How The Skimm's passionate readership helped its newsletter grow to 1.5 million subscribers". Nieman Lab. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  9. "How the Skimm Became a Must-Read for Millennials". November 2, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016 – via Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
  10. Ward, Maria. "Calling All Skimmers! TheSkimm Launches a New App for Your iPhone Calendar". Vogue. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  11. "TheSkimm's morning newsletter has 3.5 million readers, and now it wants to invade your calendar". Business Insider. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
  12. Ha, Anthony. "theSkimm expands beyond newsletters with Skimm Ahead, a subscription calendar service". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  13. Segran, Elizabeth. "theSkimm's readers have grown up, but it refuses to evolve with them". Fast Company.
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