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Feb 3, 2021 - Economy

Scoop: HubSpot is acquiring The Hustle

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HubSpot, a publicly-traded sales and marketing software company, is acquiring The Hustle, an email newsletter and content company targeted at entrepreneurs and small business owners, sources tell Axios. The deal is expected to close next week.

Why it matters: Hubspot has long invested in using content to help educate its existing and potential customers about business trends, primarily through its web blog. The deal will help it double down on that effort. The Hustle's daily business newsletter has more than 1.5 million subscribers.

  • The deal could also help HubSpot generate leads to acquire more customers without having to pay for lots of ads on Google and Facebook.

Details: The deal is valued at roughly $27 million, a source familiar with the terms tells Axios.

  • The Hustle makes most of its money from advertising and a small portion from subscriptions to its premium research arm called Trends. Its events business was sizable, but has been impacted by the pandemic.
  • The company has raised a little over $1 million in funding from seed rounds. Sources say the company is profitable.
  • All of the company's roughly 30 full-time employees are expect to remain.

When contacted for comment, HubSpot noted that it already has a large community of people who go to HubSpot's blog to get information around business trends and ways to grow and scale companies.

The big picture: Niche media is becoming a powerful customer acquisition tool and retention tool.

  • For example, Penn National, a casino operator, invested $163 million in Barstool Sports for a 36% equity stake. Its ownership presumably will help it lure sports bettors.

What's next: Paperwork has been delivered to shareholders for their approval, with closing expected next week.

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