Q_184 NYS Assembly District(s) where the project is located. (please enter a number between 1 and 150 that represents your Assembly District) 075

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1 NYS Consolidated Funding Application Application Number Registration File created July 25, :42 AM Application finalized on July 25, :41 AM Region New York City Questionnaire Questions & Answers Threshold Excelsior Jobs Program Q_41 Does this project predominantly involve any of the following activities at the project location: (1) scientific research and development that will create at least 5 net new jobs in NYS; (2) software development that will create at least 5 net new jobs in NYS; (3) agricultural production or agricultural support (e.g. soil preparation, planting, harvesting and management, on a contract or fee basis) that will create at least 5 net new jobs in NYS; (4) manufacturing that will create at least 10 net new jobs in NYS; (5) financial services data center or financial services customer back office operations that will create at least 50 net new jobs in NYS; (6) a back office operation that includes customer service, information technology and data processing, human resources, accounting and related administrative functions and will create at least 50 net new jobs in NYS; (7) a distribution center involving processing, repackaging, and/or movement of finished or semi-finished goods to retail locations across a multi-state area that will create at least 75 net new jobs in NYS; (8) the creation of at least 300 net new jobs in NYS and the investment of at least $6 million at the project locations; (9) categories 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 & 7 above retaining at least 25 persons in NYS and category 4, manufacturing, that retains at least 10 persons in NYS ExcelsiorStatuatoryProvisions.pdf Yes Q_1856 Are you a not-for-profit, municipality or public benefit corporation? No Location Q_184 NYS Assembly District(s) where the project is located. (please enter a number between 1 and 150 that represents your Assembly District) 075 Q_190 NY Senate District(s) where the project is located. (please enter a number between 1 and 63 that represents your Senate District) 28 Q_565 Project City New York Q_568 Project State New York Q_572 Project Latitude 40 Q_573 Project Longitude -74 Q_928 Project Street Address: if the project does not have a definite street address, please skip to "Project without a Street Address" below. Midtown South/Various Locations

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3 Q_971 Project Without a Street Address: please enter a description of the project location. Include project starting/ending street addresses, cities & zip codes if applicable. Midtown South/Various Locations Q_972 Project county or counties. New York Q_1034 Project ZIP Code. (please use ZIP+4 if known) Q_3527 US Congressional District where the project is located. 12th Basic General Project Information Q_550 If you are a DBA, what is your DBA name? Q_549 Type of Applicant (select all that apply) C Corporation Q_556 Select an applicant ID type from the list below that you normally use to identify your organization on application forms. Federal Tax ID Number Applicant Answer Legal Name BuzzFeed Inc Street Address 200 Fifth Avenue, 8th Floor City New York State NY Zip Code (use ZIP+4 if known) Address mark.frackt@buzzfeed.com

4 Telephone Number (include area code) Contacts Primary Contact Additional Contact First Name Mark Last Name Frackt Title CFO Street Address 200 Fifth Avenue, 8th Floor City New York State NY ZIP Code Address Telephone Number Q_3656 Is the project included in a NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program plan or a NY Rising Countywide Resiliency Plan? No Q_3744 If the project is included in a NY Rising Community Reconstruction Program plan or a NY Rising Countywide Resiliency Plan, please indicate the planning committee name, project name, and location. Q_3762 Does your project directly address the needs of people in your region who are living in poverty and who seek resources for inclusion in the economic life of New York State? No Q_3763 How does your project seek to apply CFA funds for the purpose of eliminating barriers to skilled employment by poor people in your region, as identified by the Opportunity Agenda? Please descr be any efforts to collaborate at the local or regional level (i.e. public, private, labor, philanthropic sectors). Q_3764 How does your project build workforce development programs, improve physical infrastructure, and/or establish social services that connect people living in poverty in your region with skilled employment, in correspondence with the economic revitalization priorities, distressed community targets, and the industry growth areas identified in the Opportunity Agenda and Strategic Plan?

5 Q_3766 Is this a Global NY Project? No Q_3768 If this is a Global NY Project, please describe how this project relates to the identified goals of your region s Global Marketing and Export Strategies as part of the Global NY initiative? Project Description Q_575 Project Description. Concisely describe the project, indicating the location, what will be planned, designed, acquired, and/or constructed, the issues/opportunities to be addressed, and expected outcomes and deliverables. Additional details will be collected later in the application process. Q_930 Explain what makes your project a regional economic priority - for example creates jobs, economic investment, sustainability and community revitalization, government efficiency or consolidation etc. Q_2366 How does your project align with the Regional Economic Development Council s Strategic Plan? (strategic plans are located at ) Q_929 Current State of Project Development (i.e. planning, preliminary engineering, final design, etc. You may enter for non-project related applications) Q_975 Estimated Project Timeline: including project start/completion dates, estimates for design, permitting and construction or other major steps. (You may enter for non-project related applications) Q_976 Statement of Need Q_580 Provide a list of all federal, state, and local reviews, approvals, or permits needed or completed, including the dates when they are expected to be completed or were completed. If Not Applicable, indicate "NA". Q_2364 What is the status of State and/or Federal Environmental Review? If review of the project is underway or completed pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) or National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), please indicate the lead agency (if applicable). Prior CFA Funding Q_2362 If funding was awarded in prior CFA rounds, what were the CFA numbers for which funding was awarded? (separate multiple CFA numbers with commas) Standard Question Excelsior Jobs Program

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10 Computer and Mathematical Production Community and Social Services Construction and Extraction Life, Physical, and Social Science Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Food Preparation and Serving Related Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Protective Service Legal Sales and Related Architecture and Engineering Personal Care and Service Healthcare Support

11 Transportation and Material Moving Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Business and Financial Operations Education, Training, and Library Office and Administrative Support II. Worker Recruitment Worker Recruitment A. Recruitment Method B. Percentage of Use 1st Most Common Recruitment Method In-house Recruitment (employee referrals / in-house applicants) 50 2nd Most Common Recruitment Method Job Posting (company website / NYS DOL / online job boards / newspaper) 25 3rd Most Common Recruitment Method Social Recruiting (LinkedIn/Twitter/Facebook) 25 1st Other 2nd Other 3rd Other Net New Jobs No job answers necessary due to your associated programs. Qualified Investments

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14 CONFIDENTIAL PROJECT INFORMATION WORKSHEET BUZZFEED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION Thank you for bringing your project to Empire State Development. We look forward to working with you to evaluate your project for possible financial assistance. To begin this process, please complete and return the attached Project Information Worksheet. Please note the following: ESD cannot consider assistance for project activities commenced or committed to prior to the funding recipient s written acceptance of an offer of assistance from ESD. This is NOT a funding application. This information is needed to help ESD evaluate your project for possible financial assistance. If ESD offers assistance, an Incentive Proposal will be issued and, if accepted, a separate funding application will be required. ESD staff may request additional information or clarification, including financial projections. Definitions: Full-time Permanent Employee: (i) a full-time, permanent, private-sector employee on the Recipient s payroll, who has worked at the Project Location for a minimum of 35 hours per week for not less than four consecutive weeks and who is entitled to receive the usual and customary fringe benefits extended by Recipient to other employees with comparable rank and duties; or (ii) two part-time, permanent, privatesector employees on Recipient s payroll, who have worked at the Project Location for a combined minimum of 35 hours per week for not less than four consecutive weeks and who are entitled to receive the usual and customary fringe benefits extended by Recipient to other employees with comparable rank and duties. Full-time Contract Employee: a full-time private sector employee (or self-employed person) who is not on the Recipient s payroll but who works exclusively for the Recipient at the project location for a minimum of 35 hours per week for not less than four consecutive weeks, providing services that would otherwise be provided by a Full-time Permanent Employee. The position held by a Full-time Contract Employee must be a year-round position. For the Excelsior Jobs Program: a full-time permanent employee must be on the payroll for at least six months of a year in order to qualify for benefits. Jobs transferred from employment with another business located in the State including from a related person in this State are not net new jobs for purposes of the employment commitment. Retained Jobs are defined as those at risk of being lost or moved out of state should the Project not proceed. In the above section, please report only those retained jobs that are truly at risk and the time period over which these jobs would be lost without ESD assistance. BUZZFEED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

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16 CONFIDENTIAL PROJECT INFORMATION WORKSHEET BUZZFEED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION BuzzFeed is a global media company and a leader in social news and entertainment. BuzzFeed is based in New York City, with offices in Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Chicago, London and Sydney. We have been based in New York City since our founding in 2006 and currently employ approximately 400 people in New York City. We are headquartered at 200 Fifth Avenue, subletting approximately 60,000 square feet of office space from Tiffany & Co. However, due to our expansion plans, we are rapidly outgrowing this short-term space as we hire more employees and are therefore in the process of determining where and when we should move to a larger, more permanent headquarters of approximately 160,000 square feet. Our current plans anticipate hiring 120 more full-time employees in the second half of 2014, with 80 of those in the tri-state area. For 2015 through 2019, we anticipate hiring 700 to 800 more full-time employees, with more than 475 of those located in the tri-state area. We are investing in all areas, including editorial, technology and sales and marketing. Video is also a significant investment and growth area for us. We are already one the largest original content creators on YouTube and are expanding rapidly into digital video advertising. We have a video team of 70 based in Los Angeles that we project growing to over 200 by 2017, and would ideally like to shift some of those hires to work in the New York area. We currently have no space for video production in our New York City office and would like our permanent new New York headquarters to have space for a New York video team and video studio. We feel that keeping all of our tri-state employees in a New York State and specifically New York City headquarters will allow us to continue to recruit top talent, stay closer to the advertising market and allow us the best opportunity to grow video as we continue to expand our growth. As such, we would like to establish a permanent headquarters to house our fast-growing company, but are finding New York City rents and facility build-out costs to be excessive We have done extensive research over 2+ years and explored many buildings in all areas of Manhattan, including Midtown, Midtown South, Chelsea, Union Square, Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, as potential locations for BuzzFeed s new headquarters. We have identified viable options in the Union Square Area as well as in Chelsea that would suit our needs but the costs are quite prohibitive. We have also explored the option of taking office space in New Jersey as an alternative for staff that does not need to be based in a prohibitively expensive office in New York City. We would like to be considered for a grant to allow us to maintain all of our tri-state employees at our headquarters in New York State, and specifically New York City, and to allow us to build out a bigger New York Video function. BUZZFEED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

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