Gimlet Media than advertising. Members were given early access to pilots for new Gimlet shows, a Gimlet T-shirt, and access to the company's Slack channel. Gimlet then hired Blumberg's spouse and former "Rachel Maddow Show" producer Nazanin Rafsanjani to explore other ways to diversify the company's revenue. Rafsanjani spearheads Gimlet Creative, a wing of the company that "creates highly produced narrative audio in partnership with brands." On August 2, 2017, Gimlet announced it closed a $15 million Series B investment round, led by Stripes Group. Emerson Collective, Graham Holdings, Betaworks, and Cross Culture Investors also contributed to the round. In September, 2017,
Gimlet Media works with sponsors to create podcasts that are then released under Gimlet Creative's channel, with a clear distinction drawn to separate from the company's editorial and journalism shows. This team is headed by creative director Nazanin Rafsanjani. Branded podcasts from Gimlet Creative include: In addition to individual shows, Gimlet Creative also produces the ads featured on other Gimlet podcasts. In 2018, Gimlet announced their creation of a festival, called GimletFest. The first annual GimletFest took place on June 16–17 in Brooklyn, New York, and featured live podcast shows and panels with podcast hosts. Gimlet Media Gimlet Media is a digital