Travel news startup Skift has closed a new $1.1 million round of seed funding, the company announced today.
Skift is a hybrid news publication that seeks to provide data and reporting services to the travel industry as well as those who are interested in following it. The site was co-founded by paidContent founder Rafat Ali, who decided on the idea after his many travels made him realize how much the travel industry converges together, with hotels, transportation, tech services and startups, and more. By all intents and purposes, Skift does sound like it wants to be a digital offspring of those old school trade publications common in many industries during the heyday of print -- except this one is aiming to be something that's not only useful, but also something that will appeal to the everyday consumer audience. It also wants to be more diverse in what it offers, both in terms of its products/services and business strategy.
"All media companies need a diverse revenue stream," Ali said in an interview with VentureBeat. "Advertising is one part, but at least for us we'd like to build out our data services and premium offerings."
The funding, he said, will be used to double Skift's team of employees from 5 to 10. Those positions pretty much span across all areas, with 2 developers, a social/audience manager, a data analyst, and an additional reporter. Skift will also use the new capital to further develop its travel-brand index SkiftSocial as well as two premium subscriptions services that will roll out in June.
The new funding is led by Leer Ventures, with participation from Advancit Capital, Ironfire Angel, Mesa+, and Growlabs/LX Ventures as well as angel investors including Martin Nisenholtz, Michael Yavonditte, Shakil Khan, Paul Noglows, Sean Keener, Duncan Jennings, Skift CFO Michael Cunniff, and Eric Lawson.
Founded in 2012, the New York-based startup has raised a total of $1.5 million in funding to date.
Photo via Skift