Bleacher Report Secures $3.5M In Venture Capital Funding

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Bleacher Report Secures $3.5M In Latest Round Of Capital Venture Funding

Online fan journalism outpost Bleacher Report has secured $3.5M in series B venture capital funding, buttressing the $1.5M it received early this year. Bay Area-based Hillsven Capital led the funding, as it did for the first round, and was joined by Gordon Crawford, fund manager at Capital Research Global Investors, a major stakeholder in Yahoo. The S.F.-based Bleacher Report -- which has seen its Wikipedia-type collection of fan-written sports columns and stories generate more than 2 million unique visitors per month according to internal analytics -- also has struck a content partnership with CBSSports.com in which headlines from Bleacher Report will appear throughout CBSSports.com, pushing traffic back to Bleacher Report. FoxSports.com also holds a content syndication deal with Bleacher Report, but Dave Nemetz, Bleacher Report co-Founder, described the CBS pact as more immersive. “These are all steps that really help solidify what we’re doing,” Nemetz said. “The additional funding gives the runway to not only survive the current economy but really build on what we’re doing. CBS is a huge help to us in terms of traffic and exposure. And this has all helped position us well as we talk with national brands [about advertising].”