In addition to the current $40 million, Vox Media has already raised $35 million. Once the funding from Accel is complete, Vox Media will be one of the most well-funded independent content creators on the Internet. The Washington, DC-based media company has well-known brands ranging across sports blogging, web and tech, and gaming with SBNation, The Verge, and Polygon, respectively. They will put this new funding to good use in an effort to broaden their editorial coverage across these sites. Vox Media will produce more reported videos and cover business topics beyond its usual social media news and gadget reviews. They have also revealed plans to expand video business for various sites and connected TV applications. This rings similar to Huffington Post’s $37 million funding before being acquired by AOL for $315 million. Bleacher Report also raised $40 million before it was acquired by Turner Broadcasting Systems in 2012, and BuzzFeed has brought in about $50 million as well. The important point here is that Vox Media seems to be right on pace with other media giants that have gone this route before them. Does it mean that they will be bought soon? Honestly, it’s a bit too early to tell. There are industry experts that are speculating about Vox Media going public. But for now it seems that CEO Jim Bankoff is maintaining the company’s focus on building out its product and executing the plans they have set.
