• Glam Media

  Participated · Equity · Feb 2008

  Glam Media operates a portfolio of lifestyle-focused sites including Glam and Foodie and runs advertising across a broader network of publishers. The company acquired social network builder Ning in a deal reported to be about $150 million in cash and stock. Glam is preparing to go public and reportedly used a provision in the JOBS Act to file an initially secret IPO registration. Its recent hiring activity includes about 450 employees and more than 35 jobs listed on its careers page (with a source saying U.S. openings exceed 90). Financially, Glam has previously raised more than $150 million in equity and $20 million in debt and has been valued at $750 million after a $50 million round. The company took on an additional $25 million in new funding as it moves through the IPO process. Glam Media operates a vertical advertising network that controls and represents more than 1,400 publishers and content sites. The network attracts nearly 160 million unique monthly worldwide visitors, including roughly 72 million monthly U.S. visitors, generating about 2.5 billion page views and 2.5 billion minutes spent. The company reported 2009 revenue of around $55 million, up from $40 million in 2008, and said North American operations were EBITDA-profitable with global break-even in Q4 2009. Management plans to use new capital for business investment and strategic acquisitions and is gearing up for an IPO in the next 12–18 months. Glam is headquartered in Silicon Valley and New York City. Glam Media is a distributed media network that aggregates content and monetizes it through display advertising across partner publishers. The company has focused on international expansion, with recent funding targeted specifically at its Japanese and German operations and strategic acquisitions in 2008. It has launched side projects such as Tinker while continuing to pursue growth abroad. Operationally, Glam has faced publisher-relations strains—slowing payments and making significant pay cuts—yet it self-reported a "surprisingly strong" Q4 and was identified by ComScore as one of the fastest-growing U.S. sites. At the time of the article, Glam ranked as the ninth-largest publisher of display ads, serving an estimated 2.1 billion ad impressions per month. Its cumulative capital deployed into the company exceeded $100 million (not counting an additional $20 million in debt). Glam Media operates a portfolio of small, women-focused sites anchored by Glam.com and sells advertising across owned and third-party properties. Several of its properties are SEO-driven (for example, free-beauty-tips.com and celebrity-hairstyles.org), and the company functions as an ad network that drives the vast bulk of its page views. Comscore reported the network had nearly 47 million unique visitors and 1.1 billion page views worldwide, roughly 4x and 11x growth year-over-year. The company was not yet profitable in 2007, losing about $3.7 million on $21 million in revenue, while projecting $150 million in revenue and $40 million in profit for 2008. Glam may face margin pressure as competition increases despite controlling substantial page views. The company is based in Brisbane, California. Glam Media operates a fashion- and lifestyle-focused online network that publishes and aggregates magazine-style editorial content for women. The company secured a landmark partnership with Hearst Magazines to bring Marie Claire content to Glam.com, signaling a push to host high-quality print magazine material online. Glam aims to expand its audience and advertising reach by growing its sales and editorial teams. The site reports over 7 million global unique visitors per month and ranks as a top-10 women’s property per comScore Media Metrix (October 2006). Leadership positions the company to capture advertising targeted at women that they argue is underrepresented online compared with print magazines. Management framed the move as part of a strategy to dominate the online medium for women the way certain magazines have in print.

No current team members are available.