Thursday, January 29, 2015

Venture Capital: "Investors Think Business Insider Doubled Its Value in Less Than a Year"

From re/code:
Last March, Jeff Bezos and other investors who put money into Business Insider thought the news site was worth $100 million.

Now they think it’s twice as valuable. Sources say Business Insider’s newest funding round, led by German publisher Axel Springer, pegs the company’s value at $200 million*. Business Insider’s backers invested $25 million in this round, which means the company has raised more than $55 million since 2007.

The company won’t comment on its valuation or financials, but a person familiar with Business Insider said it generated $30 million in revenue last year, up from around $18 million in 2013.

For context: Lots of digital publishers are raising lots of money! Last summer Vice raised $500 million in a round that valued the company at $2.5 billion, and BuzzFeed raised $50 million at an $850 million valuation. Last fall Vox Media raised $46.5 million in a round that valued that company at $380 million. Oh! And Mashable just raised $17 million as well. No word on that valuation.

Business Insider says it will use the new money to grow in the U.S. and internationally. Last year, the company launched a U.K. edition, and people familiar with the company expect it to look at a German version, likely in conjunction with Axel Springer. The German publisher is already in a joint venture with Washington, D.C.-based Politico and plans to launch a European version of Politico this spring....MORE