UK-based sports-themed publishing platform Minute Media has collected $40m in funding from investors including ProSieben, the television network subsidiary of media group ProSiebenSat.1.
Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, Hamilton Lane, Maor Investments, Battery Ventures, Dawn Capital, Qumra Capital, Vintage Investment Partners and Gemini Israel Ventures also took part in the round.
Founded in 2011, Minute Media has created a technology platform than enables users to curate, publish and share sports-focused content online. Its properties include 90min, DBLTAP and 12up, as well as recently acquired brands Mental Floss and The Big Lead. They span 12 languages and reach a total of more than 140 million readers each month.
Asaf Peled, founder and chief executive of Minute Media, said: “With the commercial momentum we are experiencing as an organisation, growing at 100% year-on-year, we are purposely focusing investment on the deepening of our publisher product and tech offering — a part of our business that is rapidly expanding.”
The new capital will used to acquire additional publishing brands, expanding the company’s reach into new verticals and markets, Peled added.
The round increased Minute Media’s overall funding to $120m, the company said. It landed $17m in a May 2018 series F round that featured ProSiebenSat.1, Goldman Sachs, Vintage Investment Partners, Qumra Capital, Battery Ventures and Dawn Capital.
ProSiebenSat.1 had joined the latter three in a $15m series E round for Minute Media in early 2017, having initially invested in a $15m round two years earlier alongside existing backers Battery Ventures, Dawn Capital and Gemini Ventures.