DriveTribe, the vertical online community for motoring fans to be launched by former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, has now secured $6.5 million (£4.9 million) from 21st Century Fox. The move comes less than three weeks after the announcement of its $5.5 million Series A funding, led by Breyer Capital and Atomico.
The site expects to launch in November 2016 as the “world’s digital hub for motoring” and has been co-founded by the three celebs, together with their long-time producer/collaborator Andy Wilman, and serial technology entrepreneur Ernesto Schmitt.
The site will feature “Tribes” — basically forums — hosted by the three celebrities, along with invited stars, bloggers, writers and videographers, who generate and curate the content. A content engine will target the best content for each community. It sounds like it will be a like a bunch of motoring Facebook groups lumped together, with some more tech thrown in.
“We saw the DriveTribe platform and we were blown away by its ingenuity,” said Peter Rice, CEO of FOX Networks Group in a statement.
However, the jury is out on whether it will be successful. Most attempts to corral individual celebrities into one platform — such as Tidal — have not fared well.