theSkimm newsletter raises $6M

Danielle Weisberg and Carly Zakin, founders of theSkimm, have more than a million subscribers and were just named to the 2015 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the media category. But they are just getting started. 

The two former NBC producers launched their daily email newsletter in 2012. Oprah, Lena Dunham, and Sara Jessica Parker all read it. TheSkimm is a sassy email designed to give you all the news you need to start your day.

Weisberg says they don't really care what you're interested in. They'll tell you what you need to know about whatever is going on in the world in five minutes or less.

The Skimm has a little sarcasm and an edge. Weisberg and Zakin say they wanted it to sound like it was written by your friend--the one you love talking to.

They came up with the idea while they were both living together and working together at NBC. Both women felt there was a void in the news landscape. There was no product geared towards young, busy, female millennials. Zakin says they decided it was time to answer the voice in their heads saying "do something!"

So they saved two months' salary, quit their jobs on the same day, and sent out their first newsletter--to everyone in their inbox. On day one, about 800 people signed up.

Within a week, Zakin says, the head of almost every major media organization called to find out who they were. By day four, Hoda Kotb announced that she loved theSkimm on The Today Show, and the newsletter gained a national following. Within six months, Vanity Fair threw them a launch party.

Last year Weisberg and Zakin decided to move theSkimm out of their apartment and into an office. They now have a staff of eight and just raised some serious cash in a Series A: over $6 million.

What's next? Without giving too much away, Weisberg says they're looking at other platforms this year and expanding their team.