Zinc raises $5.2m for post-Covid growth

Tern Television documentary Inside The Zoo

UK factual production group Zinc Media has completed a £4m (US$5.2m) funding round to help fuel growth as the market recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The investment follows a previous fundraising round by Zinc, which attracted £3.5m of new funds in January.

This money allowed the group to invest in several senior creative appointments, launch its new Branded Content Division, launch factual entertainment and formats label Red Sauce, build a post-production facility, move its London operations to a new office and strengthen its corporate infrastructure.

CEO Mark Browning said: “Covid-19 has increased the pace of change in commissioning and opened up new opportunities for Zinc. We are now having discussions about all sorts of opportunities that weren’t available six months ago.

“This investment provides a bulwark against further Covid-related disruption, even if it extends into 2021, and it means we can now drive forward our growth plans.

“New markets for content creation are emerging and we see opportunities for further revenue diversification as we expand the kind of content we make, both in Zinc TV’s labels and in Zinc Communicate.”

Zinc is home to five factual TV production brands: Blakeway, Brook Lapping, Films of Record, Tern Television and the recently launched Red Sauce.

Zinc Communicate, its agency division producing TV and digital content for advertisers, publishers, media owners and rights holders, houses Zinc’s Branded Content Division, which launched in June.