Why Brands Like OZY Media

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FundKite’s former funding client OZY Media is making waves in the news lately! Ads promoting OZY Fest, set to take place in Central Park July 20th-21st, can be seen and heard throughout New York City as the neighborhood prepares to host an epic festival that’s changing how people gather to discuss and learn.

Targeted for the “Change Generation,” OZY Fest presented by OZY Media is bringing a diverse group of thought leaders together in the country’s most innovative city with a music festival, ted talk, and food fair all wrapped up in one major event.

Along with the $10 Million OZY received by GSV Capital to bolster their video content and events in 2017, FundKite funded OZY’s expansion with additional working capital in 2019. FundKite is proud to support brands like OZY media through their growth as they work to make a positive difference in their communities, for the country and around the world.

About Ozy Media

OZY is a media company founded by Samir Rao and Carlos Watson who ran into each other in a Chipotle parking lot and decided there was an open market for a news platform that was globally minded, diverse and everything the Change Generation needed. Many of the long-standing news sources were still rehashing yesterday’s top stories and Rao and Watson wanted to break the mould.

As the new news, OZY publishes articles with opinions and points of view that may not always align. The company brings their audience the world by representing it. The company boasts

“We featured Trevor Noah before he was named host of the Daily Show, brought you Alexandria Ocasio Cortez before she became a Congressional nominee and showcased Aaron Judge before he was a Yankee all-star. From fashion to Wall Street to K-Street, from medicine to movies, OZY has profiled more than 1,000 breakout figures and trends before top publications like The New York Times and The Economist caught up. If your preferred pace is several steps ahead, OZY is where you belong.”

The company’s unique name comes from the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The poem is traditionally interpreted as a warning against big egos and the vulnerability of power, but OZY reads it as a call to think big while remaining humble.

What Is OZY Fest?

OZY Fest is turning the traditional festival experience on its head. With two full days of live music, conversation, comedy and food on the Great Lawn in Central Park, OZY Fest is not just a music festival. There will be dancing, laughing and eating with headliner musicians, stand-up comedians, thought leaders, presidential candidates, billionaire business leaders and celebrity chefs. Attendees can interact with big names like:

Mark Cuban – Interactive Panel

Rachel Ray – Cooking Demo

John Legend – Musical Performance

Jameela Jamil – Live Discussion

Trevor Noah – Comedic Conversation

Tove Lo – Musical Performance

Alex Rodriguez/AROD – Live Discussion

Miguel – Musical Performance

Malcolm Gladwell – Live Discussion

Padma Lakshmi – Cooking Demo

Spike Lee – Live Discussion

ARIZONA – Musical Performance

Laurene Powell – Live Discussion

Beto O’Rourke – Political Debate

John Kasich – Political Debate

Kirsten Gillibrand – Political Debate

Stacey Abrams – Political Debate

Dulce Sloan – Stand-Up Set

Deepak Chopra – Live Discussion

Barbara Corcoran – Interactive Panel

Marc Lasry – Interactive Panel

Cindy Eckert – Interactive Panel

Marcus Samuelsson – Cooking Demo

Elizabeth Vargas – Live Discussion

Robert Herjavec – Live Discussion

Ronny Chieng – Stand-Up Set

And many more!

“OZY Fest offers a rare opportunity to engage with forward-thinking artists, business leaders, presidential candidates, writers, teachers, students and more — all while chowing down on great food in the sunshine of New York’s Central Park”

The 2019 festival with be the fourth year of OZY fest, and they only continue to get bigger and better.

You can buy your tickets by clicking here.

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