​In the end, media historians may write that BuzzFeed was the House that Cat GIFs Built.

BuzzFeed, heretofore widely known for time-wasting lists, quizzes and posts with titles such as “13 Iconic Movies Improved By Cats” and “Men Shaving Their Chest Hair Into Bikini Tops Is The Trend You Didn’t Ask For” wants to be taken seriously as a multi-platform media company.

And now they’ve got a whole lot more cash to try to make that happen.

On Monday, BuzzFeed announced that it had secured $50 million from Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley-based VC firm. The New York Times reported that the deal values BuzzFeed at about $850 million.

BuzzFeed will use the money to beef up its BuzzFeed Feed Motion Pictures, the LA-based video division, and perhaps even produce feature-film length movies.

After the deal was announced, Mashable noted how BuzzFeed’s trajectory seems to be matching that of another hot digital property right now: VICE Media.

“Both companies have grown significantly over the past several years, in part due to major investments,” writes Mashable’s Jason Abbruzzese. “Those changes have begun to make the two companies look very similar: major media outlets anchored on the Internet with a serious international footprint and serious video aspirations.

The Times hints at another reason for BuzzFeed’s push into new content areas: an over-reliance on social media.

As anyone who manages a content site knows, a site can live or die by Facebook’s algorithm. One tweak to the magic formula from Zuckerburg & Co. and your site could collapse.

For now, BuzzFeed’s video plans center around independently distributed content that ranges from six-second Vine-esque pieces to more traditional 22-minute episodic fare. But the Times says that feature films could also be in the company’s future.

Who knows, maybe they’ll even remake 13 iconic movies with casts made up entirely of cats…

Read More: New York Times, Mashable

Brief Take: To keep growing (and possibly go public), BuzzFeed needs to be known for more than just cat lists and time-wasting quizzes. Video has been good to VICE, and beefing up in that department could help BuzzFeed become a media company with a lasting imprint, rather than just a passing viral fad.

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