What What's Trending does

What's Trending, Inc. is a privately held US digital media publisher that operates a content-first platform covering trending topics across entertainment, music, creator economy, culture, tech and AI, news, and lifestyle. The company distributes written articles and video content through its owned website (whatstrending.com), which is organized into eight vertical categories plus a "POV" contributor section that accepts external submissions. The platform also maintains active channels on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram, and runs a free email newsletter through beehiiv. The content library is substantial but purely archive-based, with pagination extending across 167+ video pages, 85+ news pages, 58+ lifestyle pages, and 49+ entertainment pages.

The underlying technology stack is non-proprietary; the company operates as a standard content publishing platform using commodity web infrastructure (WPEngine hosting indicated by asset paths) and third-party services such as beehiiv for email distribution, with no APIs, SDKs, patents, or proprietary ML systems disclosed. There are no native mobile applications, and the product is entirely free to consumers with no paywalls, premium tiers, or registration requirements.

Monetization is advertising- and sponsorship-driven, with revenue generated through display ads and sponsored articles placed against an audience of pop culture enthusiasts, creator economy participants, tech-forward consumers, and media/marketing professionals. The platform reaches a global English-language audience across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. No funding rounds, institutional investors, management team details, partnerships, awards, M&A activity, or regulatory actions are disclosed in available sources, indicating an independently operated, bootstrapped-style media business.

Name

What's Trending

Legal name

What's Trending, Inc.

Website

https://whatstrending.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

What's Trending is a privately held US digital media publisher delivering free trending news and video coverage across entertainment, creator economy, music, tech, culture, and lifestyle to a global English-speaking consumer audience via website, social channels, and newsletter.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising and Sponsorship: What's Trending generates revenue through advertising and sponsored content. The platform features display advertisements and sponsored articles as evidenced by the presence of advertiser content within the site. Revenue is derived from brands seeking to reach the platform's engaged audience interested in pop culture, entertainment, and creator economy topics.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

What's Trending is a digital media platform that publishes trending news, video coverage, and contributor opinion content across verticals including entertainment, music, tech & AI, creators, culture, news, lifestyle, and POV. The platform distributes content via its website, a dedicated Videos section, a newsletter delivered through beehiiv, and a contributor submission platform called POV.

Product overview

What's Trending is a unified digital media publishing platform that delivers trending news and cultural commentary across multiple content formats. The core offering consists of the What's Trending Website, a content hub providing written articles and video coverage across categories including entertainment, music, tech & AI, creators, culture, news, lifestyle, and POV. Supporting the main platform are the What's Trending POV contributor platform for external creator perspectives, and a Newsletter Subscription service for email updates. The site also features a dedicated Videos section for short-form video news coverage. The platform positions itself as a destination for internet culture, creator economy news, and trending entertainment coverage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• What's Trending Website Digital media platform delivering trending news, cultural commentary, and video content across categories including entertainment, music, tech & AI, creators, culture, news, and lifestyle for general consumers interested in pop culture and internet culture.
• What's Trending POV Contributor submission platform that allows creators and cultural leaders to publish opinion pieces, stories, and insights on trends shaping the internet.
• Free Newsletter Subscription Free email newsletter subscription service delivered through the beehiiv platform, providing trending content updates directly to subscriber inboxes.
• Video Content Section Dedicated video news coverage and analysis section covering trending topics in entertainment, music, sports, and culture, with an archive of 167+ pages of video content.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BuzzFeed: Multi-vertical digital media publisher covering trending entertainment, news, and culture with an advertising-led model. Highly comparable to What's Trending in audience, content breadth, and reliance on social distribution for traffic.
• TMZ: Celebrity and entertainment news publisher specializing in trending stories, viral moments, and pop culture coverage. Comparable to What's Trending's entertainment and creator economy content mix and free, ad-supported model.
• Mashable: Digital media publisher covering tech, culture, entertainment, and creator economy with multi-platform distribution. Comparable audience overlap with What's Trending on tech & AI, culture, and trending topic coverage.
• Complex: Digital media brand covering music, pop culture, streetwear, and creator-driven content with heavy video and social distribution. Directly comparable to What's Trending's music and culture verticals and YouTube-first content strategy.
• The Verge: Digital publisher covering technology, AI, internet culture, and entertainment through articles and video. Overlaps directly with What's Trending's Tech & AI and culture sections and similar social distribution approach.
• PopSugar: Digital lifestyle and entertainment publisher targeting a similar millennial/Gen Z audience with trending content across entertainment, culture, and lifestyle verticals. Comparable ad-supported business model and social distribution strategy.
• Refinery29: Digital media publisher focused on lifestyle, culture, entertainment, and identity-driven content with strong social and newsletter distribution. Comparable to What's Trending's lifestyle and culture verticals and audience demographics.
• Distractify: Digital entertainment publisher focused on trending celebrity news, viral internet stories, and pop culture coverage distributed heavily across social platforms. Closely aligned with What's Trending's content mix, audience, and ad-supported model.

Broad incumbents

• E! News: Legacy entertainment news brand owned by NBCUniversal, covering celebrity, pop culture, and trending entertainment content. Significantly larger scale and brand recognition than What's Trending but serves overlapping audience interests.
• People: Established entertainment and lifestyle publisher covering celebrity news, pop culture, and human-interest stories. Substantially larger brand and distribution reach than What's Trending, operating in overlapping entertainment and lifestyle verticals.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WhatsTrending
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@WhatsTrending
• Facebookfacebook.com/WhatsTrending
• Instagraminstagram.com/whatstrending
• TikToktiktok.com/@whatstrending
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3117480

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about What's Trending