OwnLocal Secures New Funding to Grow Digital Services for News Websites

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- OwnLocal, a turnkey digital agency service that helps local news organizations double their online revenues, today announced it has secured new capital funding to expand its service offerings and market reach. This latest round, led by WordPress developer Automattic, brings the total investment in OwnLocal to around $2 million raised in just the past 18 months.

In addition to follow-on funding from Baseline Ventures, OwnLocal is one of the first for-profit entities to receive early-stage capital from the newly-formed $10 million John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with the Knight Enterprise Fund for media innovation. The new round also includes one of the largest investments to date from 500 Startups; as part of the investment, Principal Paul Singh has joined OwnLocal as an advisor. Additional funding comes from Justin Kitch, founder of Homestead Technologies, which he sold to Intuit in 2007. Other angel investors contributed to the round through the AngelList network.

OwnLocal Founder and CEO Lloyd Armbrust said that perhaps equally as important as the funding is the caliber of expertise this latest round brings to the OwnLocal team.

"We've secured the expertise of some of the most experienced and successful small business and online experts who are on the cutting edge of digital media," Armbrust said. "These guys really understand both the needs of our audience and the business strategy required to be successful."

OwnLocal's affordable, turnkey, white-label software tools and services are already helping newspapers and other local media outlets in 35 states generate an average of $60,000 in annualized online revenue within two weeks of launch. Its suite of products includes plug-and-play directory software, web builder, daily deals and print-to-web ad conversion software all designed to help traditional offline media outlets double their online income.

"OwnLocal allows even the smallest local media outlets and their advertisers to use online technologies to increase revenue," said Ben Wirz, director of business consulting with Knight Foundation. "Backing innovation that helps news providers adapt to the digital age is a key goal for our new Knight Enterprise Fund."

A Y Combinator alum, OwnLocal has already received early investments in 2010 from Lerer Ventures, Gmail creator Paul Beccheit, Delicious creator Joshua Schachter and Alex Moore, principal at Anduin Ventures.

About OwnLocal

OwnLocal is helping traditional offline local media outlets, including newspapers, television and radio stations, make money online with quick-to-launch and easy-to-use turnkey digital monetization tools. Powering the online presence of more than 100 publications and some 700+ small businesses, OwnLocal products touch more than 1 million people per month. Founded in 2010 and backed by funding from Y Combinator, Baseline Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Knight Foundation and other investors, the company is headquartered near Austin, TX. For more information, visit www.ownlocal.com.

SOURCE OwnLocal