Easternstandardtimes
1 known investors
Eastern Standard Times publishes human-interest stories and video content featuring people and culture across Asia, such as a profile of a 67-year-old member of an all-senior e-sports team in Taiwan. It operates as a digital media and storytelling outlet.
Also known as Eastern Standard Times · EST · EST Media Holdings
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Eastern Standard Times (EST) is a global digital media platform that produces original short-form, web-optimized video content and editorial features about Asian people and culture, both in Asia and across the diaspora. Its stated mission is to "make the East standard" by having stories reported and told by the people who have lived them. Output is organised into recurring content series, including Mini Docs (micro-documentaries told from a protagonist's point of view), Micro Docs (short documentaries under five minutes), Uncovered (archival-forward anthology of Asian crime stories), Icons (animated stories of Asian cultural figures), Explains (host-led current-affairs explainers), Reports (fast-paced short news video for social platforms), Selects (curated documentaries from emerging Asian filmmakers) and Studios (short docs cut from longer features produced with the film and TV arm).
Published work spans human-interest profiles, photo essays and short fiction, such as a photo essay by Xyza Cruz Bacani on Filipinas confronting the Philippines' plastic crisis, a profile of an all-senior e-sports competitor in Taiwan, and short films including Seoul Switch, America Fever – Miss Koreatown, Lucky Fish and White Butterfly. At launch, content dropped three times a week on easternstandardtimes.com as well as TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and was free to view.
Eastern Standard Times is a subsidiary of EST Media (EST Media Holdings), which also owns EST Studios, an international sales, development, finance and production company for Asian film and television, and ESTABLISHED, a branded-content studio working with global brands on ad campaigns, influencer collaborations, commercials and experiential events. EST Media is described as founded in 2021 by Jaeson Ma (Triller, 88rising, Stampede Ventures) and Eric Tu (VICE, Anonymous Content), with Tu also identified as co-founder and COO and Ma as co-founder and chairman.
Founding story
EST Media Holdings, the parent group of Eastern Standard Times, was founded by Jaeson Ma — previously associated with Triller, 88rising and Stampede Ventures — and Eric Tu, previously of VICE Media and Anonymous Content. Trade coverage describes the group as an "Asia to the world" media group founded in 2021, positioned to counter Western dominance of narratives about Asia; other directory listings give a founding year of 2021 for Eastern Standard Times and 2020 for EST Media. The editorial premise, articulated by editor-in-chief Keshia Hannam, was that Asian narratives were largely controlled by outlets that did not embody the nuances of Asian cultures, and that Asia should be treated as plural rather than a monolith.
Business model
Eastern Standard Times sits within EST Media alongside a film and television sales/production company and a branded-content studio, allowing content produced for the publishing platform to be cross-used with longer-form film and TV work. One private-market data provider characterises the company as B2B with a services and consulting plus revenue-share customer profile. Content on the platform is free to view.
Content is distributed free to audiences, with monetisation associated with brand and content partnerships (the agency of record was tasked with overseeing brand and content partnerships in Australia) and with sponsored/branded storytelling; the sibling ESTABLISHED unit produces ad campaigns, influencer collaborations, commercials and experiential events for global brands. Digital advertising technologies including PubMatic, Magnite and Reddit Ads appear in the group's tech stack, and third-party estimates place group annual revenue in the $1M–$10M range.
Traction
The platform publishes recurring video series and articles, with items dated from 2022 through September 2025 on its own site. Its Australian launch produced national coverage including The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC News radio, and two sold-out launch events in Melbourne and Sydney. Related documentary work includes Hidden Letters, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and was Academy Award shortlisted and Emmy-nominated, and CBS New York has covered EST's efforts to increase younger AAPI representation in media. Third-party estimates put group headcount at about 14 employees and group revenue at $1M–$10M annually.
Latest developments
The site's most recent featured mini-documentary, dated 30 September 2025, profiles designer and creative director Erwin Hines and his Future Is Color Studio and Open Gym restaurant group in San Diego. Recent editorial includes a photo essay by Xyza Cruz Bacani on Filipinas fighting plastic pollution, and Selects short films released between November 2024 and March 2025.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
EST is positioned as an Asian-led media platform addressing under-representation of Asian voices in Western newsrooms — its Australian launch cited that Asians make up 16% of the Australian population while only 6% of presenters, commentators and reporters come from Indigenous or non-white backgrounds. It is grouped with digital publishers and content studios in news and media, content creation and streaming, and compared by one data provider to JoySauce, NextShark and Asian Boss.
Differentiators cited in coverage include an all-Asian (and, per one report, all-Asian-female) editorial team with distributed Asian production teams, a "human-first" editorial policy that stories be told by those who lived them, a portfolio of distinct content formats from micro-documentaries to animated and explainer series, and integration with a sibling film/TV studio and branded-content agency within the same parent group.
Technology
The company operates a web publishing and video platform; reported technologies used across the group include PubMatic, Magnite and Reddit Ads for advertising, Google Tag Manager, Webpack, PWA, Windows Server and HTTP/3. It is categorised as a non-AI business by one private-market data provider.
Go-to-market
Distribution is direct-to-audience via easternstandardtimes.com and social platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook, plus a monthly email newsletter, with launch content originally released three times weekly. Some titles are hosted or premiered on third-party platforms such as Vimeo and Nowness Asia, and documentary work has premiered at festivals including Tribeca. Market entry has been supported by public relations and events — Manifest Group was appointed global creative agency of record in September 2022 after running launch campaigns and screening dinners in Melbourne and Sydney.
Audience focus is Gen Z and younger Asian and Asian-diaspora viewers, including AAPI audiences in the United States and Asian-Australians, alongside broader Western audiences; commercially, the platform targets brands and advertisers seeking culturally specific storytelling and content partnerships.
Geography
Headquartered in West Hollywood, California, with editorial staff based in Los Angeles, New York and (at Australian launch) Sydney, and production teams across Australia, the United States and Asia, including China, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Personnel have been identified from South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Australia/Hong Kong/India; one directory lists employees across North America, Asia and Africa.
History
The platform launched first in the United States, then officially launched in Australia in June 2022 with an all-Asian editorial team based in Sydney, Los Angeles and New York and production teams across Australia and Asia, including China, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Its Australian debut content addressed the doubling of Asian representation in the Australian Parliament following the 2022 election, alongside profiles of playwright Anchuli Felicia King and the band Gang Called Speed. In September 2022, EST appointed brand communications agency Manifest Group as its global creative agency of record; Manifest had run the Australian launch campaign and launch events in Melbourne and Sydney, produced with chefs Kylie Kwong and Victor Liong, generating coverage in The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and on ABC News radio. The site has continued publishing video and editorial through 2024 and 2025.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsBrand communications agency Manifest Group was named EST's global creative agency of record after running the Australian launch campaign and launch events in Melbourne and Sydney, and was tasked with overseeing brand and content partnerships in the region.
Following a US launch, EST launched in Australia with an all-Asian editorial team based in Sydney, Los Angeles and New York and production teams across Australia and Asia. Debut Australian content covered the doubling of Asian representation in the Australian Parliament.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Easternstandardtimeseasternstandardtimes.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Easternstandardtimes do?
- Eastern Standard Times is a digital media platform producing web-optimized video and editorial about Asian people and culture.
- Who are Easternstandardtimes's investors?
- Easternstandardtimes's investors include Dreamers VC.