Report: Comcast Ventures was close to investing $25 million in Fyre Media

Tom Paine

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Bloomberg's Polly Mosendz and Kim Bhasin write that Comcast Ventures was considering a $25 million investment in Fyre Media Inc, and had even provided Fyre with a term sheet, before deciding not to invest just days before the infamous Fyre Festival, as due diligence raised some red flags.


Also, this article from the NY Post gives a slightly different account of Comcast Ventures' involvement with Fyre.

The Post article suggests that Comcast Ventures passed on Fyre Media months ago. Although the Post article doesn't attribute that to a specific statement from Comcast. I asked Comcast Ventures for clarification as to when it broke off talks with Fyre Media, and received no response.

“Comcast Ventures, like many other investors, considered an investment in Fyre’s marketplace business,” Tina McNulty, a spokeswoman for Comcast Ventures, told The Post. “After conducting thorough due diligence, we were unsatisfied with the results and passed on the investment, as we do with thousands of companies each year. Any indication that we invested in Fyre is completely false.”


Both articles implied that Fyre Media co-founder Billy McFarland often spoke to employees about a Comcast investment as if it were a fait accompli.

Comcast had only showed interest in the Fyre app - a talent-booking platform for consumers looking to hire musicians and artists, not the festival. You can see its website here. Its unclear as to how much commercial traction the app had obtained.