Media company NBC is among the investors in the $1bn US-based online media startup Axios, according to a newsletter published by the company on Monday.
Axios was founded in 2016 by Jim VandeHei, a co-founder of online political news and analysis platform Politico. It will offer bite-sized, digestible news content catered to mobile devices and complement it with an events business.
VandeHei told the Wall Street Journal: “We are doing serious things, but trying to do it in a voice that digital native people are used to but without falling into the crap trap of dumbing down the content.
“Our audience will be everyone who truly cares about serious news on a daily basis.”
The platform will launch fully on January 18 but it began releasing newsletters on Monday, including one from ex-Fortune scribe Dan Primack where the company’s investors were disclosed.
In addition to NBC, investors in Axios include Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Greycroft, Laurene Powell Jobs and her equality-focused initiative Emerson Collective, as well as angel investors Steve Rattner, Greg Penner, David Bradley, Eric Ruttenberg and Terry O’Toole.