Minute Media acquires Israeli tech company Wazimo
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Minute Media
Minute Media, a holding group that owns digital sports and entertainment websites like Players' Tribune and The Big Lead, said Wednesday that it has acquired Wazimo, an Israeli publishing tech firm that helps media companies develop and monetize their audiences.
Why it matters: It's Minute Media's first tech-focused acquisition. It is also its first acquisition since raising at least $40 million dollars earlier this year.
Details: Wazimo, a Tel Aviv-based company, will be integrated into Minute Media's proprietary publishing tech platform, Voltax.
- Wazimo's services are focused on leveraging data to help publishers reach their audiences more effectively, and in turn, monetize them better. Specifically, the company builds solutions for publishers to obtain and leverage more first-party data, or data from their audiences directly.
- Wazimo makes money mostly via advertising-based revenue-share agreements with publishers. Its 42 employees will join Minute Media, which has offices in Tel Aviv.
- Asked about Wazimo's revenue, Minute Media CEO and founder Asaf Peled said, "As a private company, we are not able to share revenue numbers. That said, Wazimo has seen continued revenue and partnership growth that we believe will help take our technology and partnerships to the next level."
- Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The big picture: The deal represents a strategy shift for Minute Media.
- The company, which turned 10 this year, has long focused on aggregating publishing brands, then monetizing them better with its technology.
- Now that the company has made headway in licensing its proprietary technology platform Voltax to other media companies, it's focusing more on acquisitions that can better bolster its tech.
"The way we've been growing over the last few years is not only owning content brands but opening Voltax up to others," Peled told Axios. "We feel that's the best way to continue to grow over the next decade."
- Peled said the company will continue to look for ways to attract certain subsets of content publishers to license its tech, most notably, sportsbooks.
By the numbers: In September, Peled told Axios that the company had raised "tens of millions" of dollars in a previously-undisclosed financing round earlier this year, with participation from sports betting companies like FanDuel and casino giant Wynn.
- Speaking to Axios last week, Peled said the company raised north of $40 million in that round, which would bring its total amount of money raised to-date to at least $200 million.
- At the time of Minute Media's previous financing round in 2020, the company said it was worth over $500 million. Peled wouldn't comment on the valuation, but it's been reported that Minute Media has explored an IPO valuing the company at over $1 billion.
What to watch: Peled said the company plans to explore more acquisitions in the near future. Aside from data, the company is also looking to enhance its video offerings via Voltax.
