StyleCaster Media Group has raised $1 million in Series A-1 funding from a number of notable individuals in Silicon Valley, including Owen Van Natta, former EVP of Zynga, CEO of MySpace and CRO of Facebook; David Ko, chief mobile officer at Zynga; and Mike Keriakos, president and cofounder of Everyday Health.
StyleCaster operates two sites: StyleCaster.com, which brings in 2 million monthly uniques on average, and
StyleCaster was founded in New York City in January 2009 and is on track to reach profitability this year, CEO Ari Goldberg tells us. The company has 25 full-time employees, including a sales staff of eight. Goldberg says the sites' average CPM lies between $25 and $35, although the sales team tends to focus on integrated brand campaigns (such as the one with Diet Coke, below) over banner ads.
Although the Series A-1 will help the company further invest in its marketing and sales efforts, Goldberg says the funding was driven less by a need for capital than a desire to bring in some high-profile investors.