« Back

Health-care media company Waterfront Media Inc., with Web sites including Everyday Health, has raised a $25 million Series D round to grow its content and audience.

New investor Scale Venture Partners led the round, which also included new investor Foundation Capital. Previous investors Rho Ventures, Time Warner Ventures, BEV Capital and Neocarta Ventures also participated. The round was "a significant step up from the Series C," Waterfront Media Chief Executive Ben Wolin said, declining to reveal the valuation.

Scale invested in Waterfront Media, which was founded in 2002, after following the company for years, according to Managing Director Sharon Wienbar. The firm originally cold-called the company after learning about it while investigating another investment opportunity, Beliefnet, a multi-faith Web site, with which some members of Waterfront Media's management team were previously involved. The company's growth and the opportunity to develop an audience and attract advertising dollars made this the right time to invest, Wienbar said.

"The health information space on the Web is exciting because it's so valuable to consumers and so targeted to advertisers," Wienbar said, of the Web forum. It allows pharmaceutical companies to reach a targeted audience without the need to pay for additional space for additional information on prescription medicines, as with television and magazine advertising. "The revenue is substantial and the margins are good," Wienbar said.

With the launch of the Everyday Health Web site in July 2006, Waterfront Media entered a market where new ventures are cropping up to take advantage of the audience and advertising in health-care media. Aside from the established WebMD brand, companies include Revolution Health Group LLC, started by co-founder and former chief executive of America Online Steve Case, which launched its own health-focused Web site earlier this year.

Venture-funded companies are also looking for room in this market. The HealthCentral Network, with its own health and condition-focused Web site, raised $31.5 million in 2006 through Sequoia Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, Carlyle Group and Allen & Co. LifeMed Media Inc., a provider of Web and television health information for diabetes, has raised about $16 million through Battery Ventures, Cross Atlantic Partners and Milestone Venture Partners. Another company, PatientsLikeMe Inc., has raised a $5 million Series A round through Collaborative Seed & Growth Partners and the Invus Group for its site devoted to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

According to Waterfront Media, its Everyday Health site posted 9 million unique visitors per month in July 2007 as measured by comScore Media Metrix, with the Web site ranked second after WebMD. With this funding, Waterfront plans to continue its growth, adding to its media offerings, building out its sales force and looking for acquisitions in the health-care media space. The ad sales force currently has 25 employees, Wolin said. The company, which previously acquired the My Calorie Counter Web site, plans to pursue similar acquisitions.

"This should be our last private funding," Wolin said of the Series D round, with the company expected to reach profitability in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Media raised $8 million in venture debt earlier this year through Hercules Growth Capital. Prior to that, the company raised $12.5 million.

For Waterfront Media, which relies on a combination of consumer subscriptions and advertising, that business plan combined with its targeted content has so far been a winning combination for the company, according to Wienbar. Waterfront Media also provides Web sites for the Zone and Sonoma diets, for pregnancy with the What to Expect When You're Expecting brand and fitness with Jillian Michaels and Denise Austin. For advertisers, that means reaching an audience at Waterfront Media that consists of 80 percent women, according to Wolin.

"Women are often the chief medical officers of the home," Wolin said. "They are also the consumers that advertisers want to reach most."

With the round, Wienbar has been named to Waterfront Media's board. JPMorgan served as the placement agent for this Series D round.

« Back