Ongo, a start-up company expected to launch a consumer service for reading and sharing digital news and information from multiple publishers, has gained $12m in its seed round from three US-listed publishers.
Gannett, New York Times and Washington Post provided Ongo’s initial round of finance ahead of its product launch later this year. Washington Post’s mergers and acquisitions and planning and development group made its share of the investment rather than its corporate venturing unit housed under education subsidiary, Kaplan, the company said.
Alex Kazim, Ongo’s founder and chief executive, said: "We are building Ongo to reflect the many ways consumers prefer to read, organize and share digital news."
Kazim was previously president of the online auction company eBay’s internet phone operator Skype subsidiary; senior vice president of new ventures; and head of marketing and business operations for the company’s e-commerce PayPal subsidiary.