How Latino digital network mitú is winning over millennials, investors

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Roy Burstin and Doug Greiff remember when their Latino digital network mitú couldn’t nab a time slot at the annual Digital Content New Fronts in New York City.

It was 2012, and they had just formed the millennial-geared company (then identified as a multi-channel network) with Beatriz Acevedo. But the founders still wanted to spread the word about their new endeavor, so they held a makeshift presentation instead, just a block away from YouTube’s big event.

Now, mitú’s days of anything makeshift are long gone. The company has grown from just three founders to about 100 employees in three locations across the hemisphere (Santa Monica, Mexico City and Bogotá, Colombia). Mitu’s 6,000 plus Latino creators rack up 2 billion monthly video views across platforms such as YouTube, Facebook Video and Vine.

The company, which has more than 100 million global subscribers, boasts partnerships with brands including Discovery, Spanish-language media giant Televisa, AOL, Univision and Disney’s Maker Studios. Just last week, mitú announced it raised $27 million in a new round of funding (from Verizon, and WPP Digital and DreamWorks Animation-owned AwesomenessTV). To date, the company has raised $43 million in funding.

With a growing network of both creators and investors, mitú has positioned itself for its biggest year yet.

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Though mitú’s Santa Monica headquarters is fairly quiet, it’s far from traditional. It is filled with Latino-centric art (including a giant collage and a mural by the door), Mexican candy and offices named after salsas of different regions (“Valentina: Salsa Picante” for example). One screen in the main lobby area showcases a list of the top ten most shared mitu videos in all countries from Jan. 4 through Jan. 16.

“In some ways things haven’t changed and in some ways they have changed a ton,” Burstin told Mashable in an interview at the headquarters. “We wanted to build a media company … we realized that Latino audiences were not being well served, especially younger audiences in the context of all the changes are happening with mobile and social becoming dominant forces. We wanted to speak to them in a very authentic way, inspired by the opportunity to help Latino content creators develop their craft. That was true then and it is today but the way we go about doing it has changed dramatically because the space has too.”

Now, in addition to YouTube, there is Facebook Video, Snapchat, Vine, Instagram and more platforms for creators to upload videos and engage with their audiences.

Burstin said the key is to “bring a distinct point of view that appeals broadly to young, mobile audiences,” emphasizing that Latinos represent 24% of millennials in the U.S.

An infographic presented by Latino digital network MiTu at Social Media Week Los Angeles in June of 2015.

Others in the digital space recognize the significance of attracting young Latino consumers.

“We are getting more attention from other players who are recognizing Latinos are no longer niche,” Greiff told Mashable. “They have a much greater appetite to want to serve that audience, and who better to do that than mitú?”

One of mitu’s new investors, AwesomenessTV — founded by TV veteran Brian Robbins — now has over 90,000 channels and is home to talent management company Big Frame, DreamWorks TV, Awestruck (a network for millennial moms) and Awesomeness FIlms.

“Mitú’s connection into Latino youth culture and creators is impressive,” Robbins said in a statement. “They have been very successful creating content and a brand for this rapidly growing audience. Through this investment we can work with them to accelerate their programming and distribution even further as demand for branded, premium digital first content continues to increase.”

With the additional funding, mitú hopes to further reshape the Latino media landscape. The goal is to “ramp-up its investment in product and technology to expand its content publishing platform and audience data tools, launch its influencer-marketing platform (mituberos.com) as well as expand its ecosystem of apps.”

Also on the horizon: More political-focused videos tied to the 2016 election. Mitú expects to announce more news related to its political content in February.

But all Greiff could say on the record was: “2016 will be a big year.”

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