Mochila Closes Series E Round of Financing
Leading custom ad solutions and content syndication platform ramps up sales and marketing with continued support from Mission Ventures, The Greenspun Corporation and Jerry Colonna
NEW YORK, December 15, 2010 - Mochila, a premium content syndication technology platform and network, announced today that it has secured a Series E round of funding from its longtime investors. Leading this round were Mission Ventures, The Greenspun Corporation, and Jerry Colonna.
The funding comes on the heels of eight straight quarters of growth, an impressive feat in one of the most challenging economic times on record. Moreover, all of Mochila's top 2009 advertisers have renewed their business this year. The latest round will help build on Mochila's sales and marketing momentum by expanding the sales force dedicated to Mochila's new and enhanced product offerings.
"As publishers, advertisers and marketers grapple with new and impactful ways to tell their story, Mochila's ad-supported model stands out as a shining beacon in the cluttered online marketplace," said Leo Spiegel, Managing Partner, Mission Ventures. "In a short time, Mochila has built a nimble and successful advertising solution and platform, and we look forward to seeing the company through to profitability."
The investment comes at a time of exponential growth for Mochila; the startup has seen tremendous traction in the marketplace this year, winning new business from an array of blue-chip clients that include GM's Cadillac, Citibank, Ziff Davis and U.S. News & World Report - all of which are featured on Mochila's Showcase.
There are many more products this year for clients to choose from: Mochila has expanded its offerings to include flexible IAB standard units, 300x600 units, full-page sections and microsites. Mochila also offers extensive targeting capabilities to place brands and/or content in front of desired audiences - from behavioral targeting to conceptual, contextual and retargeting. This year, Mochila rolled out its "white-labeled" platform - a proprietary content API that manages articles, photos and video. Currently, Mochila is working closely with a leading Internet company on a customized platform to manage its media assets. Mochila's platform services group has been equally active, syndicating tech, automotive and business content to AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield, as well as building and powering websites for GlobalPost, Archive of American Television, and Women's eNews.
“Mochila continues to successfully demonstrate how its ad-supported content distribution model effectively extends publishers' footprints, expands advertising inventory and deepens advertisers' audience engagement levels through the fully transparent, targeted network," said Benjamin Chen, Chairman and CEO, Mochila. “We are extremely excited about our burgeoning client relationships, and this round of funding will help to reinforce our leadership position."
Launched in 2001, Mochila has forged partnerships with hundreds of the biggest and most powerful publishing companies and advertisers in the world. The Mochila network of websites spans over 1,500 members that reach an audience of over 150 million unique monthly visitors. Members include The Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, Getty, Gannett, Tribune Company, Belo Corporation, Scripps, Media General, Bonnier Corp., Rodale, AMI, MSNBC and AnchorFree.
In addition to Series E investors Greenspun Corporation, Mission Ventures and Jerry Colonna, Mochila's other key backers include Belo and Charles River Ventures.
About Mochila
Founded in 2001, Mochila> is a leading syndication and technology platform that pairs premium content with advertisers in highly contextual, fully customizable units. With its extensive network of award-winning content providers and over 1,500 top-tier distributors, Mochila extends a brand's footprint and creates large-scale advertising opportunities - all supported by deep-dive metrics. Mochila's custom solutions allow publishers to amplify their audience for larger ad deals along with the opportunity to monetize their sites as a distribution vehicle; enable advertisers to deepen engagement by surrounding their brand with quality, contextually relevant content and help marketers to attract and retain their consumers with a specialized brand messaging platform that includes their own content and/or that of Mochila's publishing partners. Partners include The Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, Getty, WENN, Gannett, Tribune Company, Belo Corporation, Media General, Ziff Davis, U.S. News & World Report, IDG, Scholastic, Greenspun Media Group and AnchorFree. In addition to its own ad sales team, Mochila has partnerships with a number of the world's leading ad networks as well as the sales teams of participating publishers. Mochila has operations in New York, San Francisco and Carlsbad, Calif. Visit www.Mochila.com.
About Mission Ventures
Mission Ventures helps build successful enterprises in Southern California and creates superior returns on investment for its investors. This is accomplished by investing in the most promising early-stage companies in high growth, emerging markets, and providing significant assistance to those companies as they develop. The Partnership brings value-added capital, experience, management talent, and guidance to the most outstanding and innovative ideas and entrepreneurs in the region. For more information, visit www.missionventures.com
About Greenspun Corporation
The Greenspun Media Group produces a number of newspapers and magazines including Vegas Magazine, Las Vegas Magazine, Showbiz Weekly, Las Vegas Life, Vegas Golfer, In Business Las Vegas, Las Vegas Weekly, the Henderson Home News, the Boulder City News, the Green Valley News, the South Valley News and the Ralston Report. GMG is the largest magazine publisher in the state. With the recent addition of LasVegas.com, Greenspun now controls four of the strongest tourism brands in the world - Vegas Magazine, Las Vegas Magazine, Vegas.com and LasVegas.com. For more information, visit www.thegreenspuncorp.com.
About Jerry Colonna
As a certified professional coach, Jerry Colonna draws on his wide variety of experiences to help clients design a more conscious life and make needed changes to their career to improve their performance and satisfaction. He established his coaching practice in 2007. He previously worked as a consultant for not-for-profit organizations. In 2003, along with Sarah Holloway, Jerry launched Hudson Heights Partners. HHP helps non-profit organizations generate new revenue streams, exploring ways to become less dependent on foundation and corporate funding by setting up social enterprises or other creative, entrepreneurial revenue-generating models. Prior to this work, Colonna was a venture capitalist focused on investing in early stage technology-related startups.
Media Contact:
Mochila:
Lisa Granatstein
lgranatstein@mochila.com
212-587-5385
