Alex Klokus and Jordan Lejuwaan founded
Futurism through a
Knight Foundation grant in 2017.
Jolene Creighton, who helped launch
Futurism, joined the website as its editor-in-chief.
Forbes reported later that year that the site received more than three million unique visitors a month, with its media content generating over 140 million monthly views.
Futurism entered into partnerships with the
Prime Minister's office in
Dubai to offer an Arabic language version of
Futurism, and with the
White House for "
South by South Lawn" and other events. The company established a "native advertising arm" with partnerships with
Nokia and other companies. Klokus and
Futurism co-founder Jordan Lejuwaan were inducted into the media category of
Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2017. In November 2017, at the height of the
Me Too Movement,
Futurism was pulled into controversy when it came to light that the publication had a promotional partnership with
George Takei, who had recently faced sexual misconduct allegations. Creighton announced that the publication had severed all ties with Takei, saying, "
Futurism holds itself and all its partners to the highest ethical standards, and we were unsettled to learn about the recent allegations against George Takei. We are no longer pursuing a relationship with him or his distribution channels." The sexual assault alligations against Takei were later rescinded.
Futurism was acquired by
Singularity University in 2019, before subsequently being sold to
Recurrent Ventures in July 2021. That year,
Futurism interviewed the head of
NASA and reported on the
COVID-19 lab leak theory, as well as the release of 500 million gene-hacked mosquitoes in
Florida. == Associated ventures ==