Business newsletter company Workweek raises $12.5M Series A
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Workweek
Workweek, a publishing platform for creators serving business professionals, raised $12.5 million in a series A round, its CEO and co-founder Adam Ryan told Axios.
Why it matters: The raise will support the build-out of a new professional networking platform for the firm's 500,000+ email subscribers across eight newsletters.
Catch up quick: Ryan launched Workweek alongside a few former colleagues in 2021. The company raised $1.5 million in seed round funding in a round led by LightShed Ventures.
- The company provides publishing and business support to independent creators in exchange for a revenue cut.
Details: The series A round was led by Mike Smerklo of Next Coast Ventures, with participation from Rich Greenfield and Jamie Seltzer of LightShed Ventures and David Rubenstein of Declaration Capital.
- The new professional networking platform will launch with a membership for HR leaders and health system leaders and soon, franchise operators. The company hopes to launch more niche networks in the coming months around professional topics, such as healthcare, fintech, and marketing.
- The networks are built exclusively for professionals in a specific field, which Workweek hopes will help members foster more meaningful and trustworthy interactions and idea-sharing.
By the numbers: There are 49 full-time employees at Workweek today, up from 10 in 2021.
- "Our media business has been profitable since last August," Ryan said.
- "We're investing in the membership platform. Revenue grew 280% last year and this year we expected membership revenue to 4x from last year," he added.
The big picture: More journalists and creators have pivoted their focus to professional audiences over the past few years, given shifts in the advertising market that have made it harder to monetize broad audiences.
- Professional audiences tend to have more disposable income for subscriptions and are more likely to pay for content.
- Workweek's long-term goal is to build a modern platform for professional content, replacing trade publications.
What's next: Workweek plans to build a new marketplace of workplace productivity apps for its professional members in the next few months.
- The marketplace will include an existing analytics dashboard built by Workweek for its members.
