US publisher Hearst Interactive Media’s strategic investments group has backed an $8m second round of funding for BuzzFeed, an online advertising management services company.
Hearst was part of the series B for BuzzFeed led by venture capital firms RRE Ventures and Softbank Capital and angel groups SV Angel and Founder Collective.
In an interview with VentureWire, a news provider, Jonah Peretti, founder of New York-based BuzzFeed and previous co-founder of the Huffington Post news service, said his company had 75 million users per month, compared to 50 million last year.
Hearst has been one of the most active media-sector corporate investors having backed 50 companies since 1995, including Netscape and a 13-year investment in E Ink, which was sold at the end of 2009 to Taiwan-based display maker Prime View International for $215m compared to venture investment of $148m, according to news provider www.pehub.com.
Hearst now has 18 companies in its portfolio with a team led by Scott English, senior vice president of strategic investments and a board member of BuzzFeed.