b5media Raises $2M, Mark Evans Joins
Two related stories about b5media. First, they have raised US$2M from J.L Albright Venture Partners and Brightspark Ventures:
[from b5media.com]b5media Inc. (“b5media”), a global new media network, has raised US$2-million of equity financing in a transaction co-lead by Brightspark Ventures and J. L. Albright Venture Partners. The funding will strengthen the company’s network of bloggers to create greater value for readers and advertisers.
Second, Mark Evans is leaving his job with the National Post, and will assuming the role of VP Operations with b5media:
[from Jumping into the Blogosphere with b5media]Having taken a long, deep drink of the blog Kool-Aid, I've decided to jump into the blogosphere with both feet by becoming Vice-president of Operations with b5media, which just raised $2-million of venture capital from J.L. Albright Venture Partners and Brightspark Ventures. Without getting too gushy, b5 is an exciting opportunity to combine my passion for writing, communications and blogs. With little fanfare and a lot of hard work behind the scenes by Jeremy Wright, Shai Coggins, Duncan Riley and Darren Rowse, b5 has established an impressive new media network with more than 150 blogs that attract more than two million unique visitors a month. So what am I going to do? Well, given b5 is a start-up, it will be everything and anything to make b5 and its terrific group of bloggers more successful.
To be honest, the decision to join was easy. For someone who believes blogs have a bright future and blog networks are going to become important entities, b5 has all the right ingredients for success: a growing portfolio of blogs that cover a wide variety of topics from technology and sports to entertainment and health. And it has a group of engaged bloggers, which I see as b5's most valuable asset. Most important, b5 has barely scratched its potential in terms of what it can do from a content, technology and business perspective. Now, that's exciting.
I've been friends with Jeremy Wright, the CEO of b5media, for several years, and met Mark at the recent mesh conference in Toronto. A great bunch of people, and a great blog network in the making.
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