VIRAL NEWS WEBSITE BuzzFeed has secured a $50 million (€37 million) investment from venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz.

The New York Times reports that the investment puts a valuation on the eight-year old website of around $850 million (€635 million), citing an unnamed source close to the deal.

In a blog post today, Andreessen Horowitz general partner Chris Dixon said that he will be joining the board of the company as part of the deal.

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Dixon said that BuzzFeed had been dismissed by many in the media industry for its use of memes, lists and funny photos, but that such characterisations had been proven inaccurate.

“The company has since moved steadily up market, following the typical path of disruptive technologies.”

It now has an editorial staff of over 200 people covering a wide range of topics – politics, sports, business, entertainment, travel, etc – and plans to invest significantly more in high-quality content in the coming years.

Some Twitter users pointed out that the valuation attached to the Andreessen Horowitz investment dwarfs recent values put on traditional media companies such as the Washington Post.

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While some legacy media organisations have struggled to turn their digital outfits into cash cows, Dixon is predicting “triple digit millions in revenues this year”.

“I believe the future of BuzzFeed – and the media industry more generally – will only get brighter as the number of people with internet-connected smartphones grows, and the internet solidifies its place as the central communication medium of our time.”

What do you think of the BuzzFeed valuation, and Dixon’s views on the future of media? Let us know in the comments.

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