“Attention to value, climatic and social change is a phenomenon that spans several generations and that can be disclosed, explained and told with simplicity on the platforms where millions of people every day in our country spend many hours for leisure and not only “: this Will Media’s diktat, which has managed to intercept and reunite the demand for information that comes from young and very young people who also use social media to get information. In a role of generational hinge between them and the world of media.
And from a virtuous contamination within Will, it happens that the well-known faces of the editorial staff decide to become partners of the company: Bianca Del Balzo, Silvia Boccardi, Riccardo Head and Francesco Oggiano, key authors of Will Media who every day tell the news on social channels, in addition to putting their face on it, have decided to put money into it, personally investing in the company for which they work and becoming key partners.
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The values and entrepreneurial choices that guide the startup, founded in 2020 from an intuition of Alessandro Tommasi (current CEO), and which on the threshold of the second year of life marks record figures with expected revenues 8 times higher than those of the previous year, reach a new milestone with the entry of 4 new shareholders coming from within. The operation is part of a second investment round of 700 thousand euros, concluded at the end of the summer. An internal capital increase which was also attended by Will’s existing shareholders and which made it possible to achieve a new structure and new equilibrium in the corporate structure. We remember the first seed round of February 25, 2020 for 1.2 million euros led by young entrepreneurs (and investors) Francesco Fumagalli and Davide Dattoli; with the participation of Invictus Capital, Rancilio Cube, Megaholding, and a vehicle owned by Francesco Fuma.
“Seeing Bianca, Silvia, Riccardo and Francesco decide to invest their money in the company I created and for which they work was really exciting – commented Tommasi – As Will we want to be promoters not only of a new way of telling and explaining in a simple way what happens in the world, but also to show through the story what our values are, in total empathy with the people who work there. Building a relationship of trust based on the values of transparency “.
on your part, Haupt, Head of strategy and new shareholder, via Instagram recalled that “change comes slowly and then all of a sudden. And that’s what happened to me here in Will. In just over a year, what must have been little more than a hobby has turned my life upside down (the hours of sleep I sleep are greatly reduced). Now, thanks to the vision of Ale, Davide and the rest of the Is Media social structure, I have the opportunity to feel Will an even more mine project. I join as a partner and I do it together with 3 extraordinary talents such as Silvia, Francesco and Bianca “.
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The numbers of the startup Will
Meanwhile, the company has made it known that Will’s expected revenues in the year 2021 will be 8 times higher than in 2020, the year in which it was founded. In 2021, not only revenues will increase, but also collaborations with brands (among others Nike, Bolton, Audi), the community of Instagram (with 1 million and 35 thousand followers) and other initiatives such as the Loop newsletter and Will Meets, an Italian tour in partnership with the European Parliament. A journey to Italy in 20 stages, from South to North, which represented a moment of listening for the community locally, with the aim of getting out of the social media bubble and writing an editorial plan that is as inclusive as possible.
Again, on the numbers: in a year and a half of life, Will’s online community has hit record numbers. In detail, these are 1 million and 35 thousand followers on Instagram and over 313 thousand on Facebook, which generated more than 40 million total interactions, with over 140 million video views. Numerous new projects have been launched, the results of which are in line with the general growth trend of the startup. The Loop newsletter, which began as an immersive format and has become one of the leading projects, has more than 19,000 subscribers. On the other hand, monthly downloads of the 4 podcast Will’s originals (The Essential, Globally, Actually, and Tiranny), 3 of which at least once were # 1 on Spotify. Lifetime downloads, on the other hand, are 10.6 million.
Still in the context of branded content activities, according to the Sensemakers ranking of the best contents published in paid partnership by Italian media, Will confirms the position in the Top 5 (data updated to September 2021); in August it entered the best performing content ranking (where there are only posts from Netflix and one from Sky Sport). In addition, the average interaction rate on Q3 is confirmed as “about double the sector average”: from July to September Will’s interaction rate was 3.4%.
Such a rapid and noticeable positive trend should allow Will to achieve the goal of € 2 million of created value by the end of 2021, i.e. at the end of the first full year of operation of the startup.
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