This article was published on November 26, 2012

Digital publisher Vertical Media raises 600,000 euros to boost European startup coverage


Digital publisher Vertical Media raises 600,000 euros to boost European startup coverage

We’re happy to learn that Vertical Media, the German digital publishing firm behind startup blogs Gründerszene and VentureVillage and events like the Heureka Conference, has raised 600,000 euros.

The capital injection comes from PDV Inter-Media (part of publishing house mediengruppe pressedruck) and a host of prominent angel investors, including early Skype and Spotify backer Klaus Hommels, former Rocket Internet managing director Florian Heinemann and Amiando co-founder Felix Haas, among others.

The fresh funding will be used to help Vertical Media become the ‘leading digital publisher in Europe’, which I guess means they’re coming after The Next Web. :-) But, honestly, the more professional publications that cover the European startup scene, the merrier if you’d ask me.

Vertical Media was formed in 2008 as the holding company of the Gründerszene startup blog, which was initially the personal blog of serial Internet entrepreneur Lukasz Gadowski, a partner of startup factory Team Europe. Indeed, Team Europe is also one of Vertical Media’s investors.

Today, Vertical Media has 35 employees, Gründerszene editor-in-chief Joel Kaczmarek writes. He adds that the newly injected capital will be used to expand its existing products but also develop new ones, although details are scarce at this point.

Kaczmarek also promises to be completely neutral in its European startup scene coverage and that its new and prior financial backers will have no influence over the editorial part of the equation.

Let’s hope so. And again, if all this leads to more quality coverage of the European startup ecosystem, then all we can say is congratulations to Vertical Media and wish the team all the best.

Image credit: Thinkstock

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