Comcast Rejected Funding Days Before Doomed Fyre Festival

In the days before the Fyre Festival collapsed into chaos on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma, the venture capital arm of media giant Comcast Corp. opted not to invest as much as $25 million in the event’s organizer, Fyre Media Inc., according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

Comcast Ventures decided that, following a due diligence review and the failure of Fyre to provide crucial financial information, the product didn’t have the necessary technical capabilities to justify funding, said the person, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Additionally, the VC firm found that, after speaking to Fyre employees, the huge branding event for the company—the festival that famously imploded last week—wasn’t organized in a fashion that was likely to succeed, the person said.

The Fyre Festival was billed as a super-exclusive escape on an idyllic tropical beach. Acts such as Blink 182, Tyga, Pusha T, and Major Lazer were booked to perform (Blink 182 backed out at the last minute). Lured by ads showing famous supermodels having fun in the sun, ticket holders flocked to the island with the hopes of a music-filled weekend in a paradise laden with yachts, villas, and fine dining. Some paid as much as five-figures for all-inclusive VIP packages.