People Inc. Buys Feedfeed // RockWater Advises on Sale

By Chris Erwin

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Some deal team kudos…

Kudos to co-founders Dan and Julie on the sale and their new strategic partnership with People Inc. They will now continue buiding with one of the world’s largest and most storied media publishers.

I first met Dan and Julie back in early 2024 through a mutual connection, and we started working together end of last year. Dan and Julie founded Feedfeed in 2013, and since then have built one of the world’s leading social-native food publishers and creator networks. Today, Feedfeed is a leading food publisher and creator network that reaches 50M+ consumers each month. The company has over 7M social media followers and over 1,000 influencer partners.

I first met the IAC deal team in the spring of 2025, which then led to connecting with the People Inc. team (formerly known as DotDash Meredith). The strategic combination made a ton of sense as People Inc. (1) continues to expand into social and digital platforms, and (2) finds new ways to help Fortune 500 companies and household brands reach and engage the modern consumer. 

Deal talks moved quickly. The collective IAC and People Inc. corp dev teams were fair and experienced dealmakers. We enjoyed working with them. 

Shoutout to Feedfeed counsel Michael Chung. Michael was a great deal team collaborator with RockWater and Feedfeed’s founders. He helped keep negotiations simple and focused, and ensured a swift transaction closing.

Lastly, a big thank you to our RockWater deal team. Thousands of team hours were put into the sales process, and we’re proud of the end result for our client.

This is a landmark deal for the creator and social media economy. It also continues a trend of growing M&A as part of the industry’s new growth cycle that kicked off in 2025.

I wish People Inc, and newly acquired Feedfeed business, team, and creator community, much future success.

On the deal specifics…

The key points for the deal are below. We won’t do our normal deal breakdown and valuation analysis since we’re under NDA about all deal details.  

One key takeaway to note is on the expanding groups of buyers for social native publishers, and for overall creator economy businesses. This includes traditional media companies, which is reflected in today’s deal announcement. This theme is extensively covered on our deal blog here, including in articles like Paramount potentially buying The Free Press, MLB investing in Jomboy Media, Fever Buying Dice, Fox buying Red Seat Ventures, and a Soros-led consortium paying $83M for Hot Ones.

Overview of the deal…

(Per trade reports)

People Inc. has acquired Feedfeed, a leading food publisher and creator network, deepening its reach into the social food category. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Founded in 2013, Feedfeed is a daily source of inspiration for millions on what to cook, bake, eat, and drink. Feedfeed reaches 50M+ consumers each month fueled by a vibrant network of top social food influencers, from home cooks and foodies to industry trendsetters.

Joining forces with People Inc., Feedfeed is now part of America’s largest publisher and sits alongside some of the most iconic food brands in the world including Allrecipes, Food & Wine, and Serious Eats. As part of People Inc., Feedfeed can unlock its full potential, expand its lead in cooking content, and provide both advertisers and creators a broader set of offerings with unrivaled reach. 

Feedfeed has established itself as the go-to destination for dozens of Fortune 500 companies and household name brands looking to reach and engage the modern consumer. The company has a track record of creating viral moments and leveraging its creator network to rapidly tap into cultural and culinary trends, delivering 600M+ social views per year. 

The acquisition is another step in People Inc.’s strategy to accelerate growth on new platforms, including social media, email news aggregators, and live events. People Inc. has grown off-platform views 50%+ while growing overall digital revenue over the last two years.

Food is one of the most-watched social content formats and social ad spend is expected to grow double digits in 2025, outpacing overall industry growth. 

People Inc. is the largest publisher of food content on the web, attracting 80M users a month across brands like Allrecipes, Food & Wine, and Serious Eats. This acquisition enhances People Inc.’s social influencer capabilities in the food space, taps into growing social ad budgets, and provides a playbook People Inc. can extend beyond food to categories like beauty/style and entertainment.

I'm the founder of RockWater Industries. We do M&A and strategy advisory for creator economy and digital / audio agencies. From buy and sell-side M&A and fundraising to market research and go-to-market planning. 

DM me on LinkedIn or email [email protected]

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