Glam.com's fashionable $18.5 million
The latest round of venture capital confidence placed in Glam Media is led by Duff Ackerman & Goodrich Ventures, with participation from existing investors Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, WaldenVC, and Information Capital. To date, Glam Media has garnered a total of about $30 million in VC backing.
This round of venture capital reflects a $150 valuation of Glam Media, according to industry sources.
What will Glam Media do with its new infusion of cash? I spoke with Samir Arora, chairman and founder of Glam Media, to find out.
Samir Arora has been innovating with technology to create wealth for the last 20 years; He is the Chairman of Information Capital VC fund, Information Capital. Prior to that, Arora was the Chairman of Emode/Tickle, Inc, which was sold to Monster in 2004 and Chairman and CEO of NetObjects, Inc, since its inception in 1995 to 2001.
Glam.com is the destination hub for Glam Media properties and network partners:
Composed of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle channels with more than 200 Glam-owned and affiliate partners web sites; GlamSpace, the first social network for fashion and style; and GlamCentral, which ranks and searches fashion and style blogs. Both traditional and indie publishers leverage the site’s interactive channels, access to advertisers, and online network marketing to reach audiences in new ways.
Arora touts a “highly desirable new Web 2.0 business model”:
In one year from launch, Glam Media has created a unique online media company reaching over 7 Million unique visitors a month. Glam’s vision is to bring together the best content from traditional and indie publishers with emotive brand advertising to create the first contextual Web network.
Arora told me the Glam business model bridges the gap between technology companies and traditional consumer media, with a focus on the lucrative “women’s lifestyle” demographic.
Glam.com is driven by an advertising supported revenue model, but not by the ubiquitous Web 2.0 text ads. Designed to function like an online fashion magazine, Glam.com presents an “emotive” blend of product and lifestyle editorial with contextually relevant “desirable” graphical brand advertising.
Arora says Glam.com’s high-end fashion content and large and growing demographically appealing audience attracts “high-CPM-rich media ads, delivering the kind of contextual advertising brands have been starved for.”
Glam also drives ecommerce to retail affiliates and takes a share of sales.
Arora told me Glam Media is “very close to profitability.” I asked about the need for more funding. Today’s $18.5 million will be applied in three ways, Arora said:
Small percentage will be used to “get to profitability,”
Geographic and market expansion,
Technology and content M & A.
Glam.com is looking forward to an even more glamorous 2007.