OGDEN -- A company that produces news and reviews reaching more than 25 million Internet visitors has landed a $33 million investment that will allow it to double its local workforce.
"In the last 20 years, I don't know of anyone who has put together an institutional investment of that size," said Jerry Ropelato, founder and CEO of TechMediaNetwork Inc.
The funds were granted by ABC Capital, an investment company that manages about $2 billion in funds.
Ropelato said his 8-year-old company plans to use the money to hire as many Ogden employees as managers can find that have the skills it needs.
"In the next 12 to 18 months, we're looking at doubling our workforce," Ropelato said. "My first choice is Ogden."
According to Comscore, TechMediaNetwork is the 82nd-largest web-based business in terms of visitors. The company had 25 million visitors to its sites in September.
"We broke records in everything," Ropelato said, listing page views, visitors and traffic as examples.
TechMediaNetwork now has just more than 200 employees. Of those, 110 are in Utah at the Ogden office and in American Fork. Another 90 work in New York.
And one example of its continued growth came this week when the company hired Randy Bambrough, former chief financial officer of NextGNetworks, as the company's chief financial officer.
Bambrough will oversee finance and accounting functions for all divisions of the fast-growing company.
"At NextGNetworks, Randy managed a period of intensive growth very similar to the growth we have experienced this year and intend to continue for the foreseeable future," Ropelato said in a news release. "His ability to scale the finance infrastructure of a fast-paced company will be extremely important to TechMediaNetwork as we achieve our goal of becoming the number one digital media publisher in the world."
The company started in 2003 as a virtual business when Ropelato built a site to answer the question of what Internet filter was the best.
But in the process, he and his associates discovered a way to make money and developed TopTenReviews, a site that reviews products for consumers.
"Three months into it, we threw out the original business plan," Ropelato said.
Soon, he was transferring his achievements to other Internet ventures, which previously hadn't been so successful.
"It's been a difficult time," he said. "A lot of content companies haven't been able to raise funds. A lot of companies produce great content but they don't know how to monetize that content."
TechMediaNetwork editors review more than 800 categories of products and services at TopTenREVIEWS. The company also publishes news, features and commentary at LAPTOP, SPACE.com, LiveScience, Newsarama, TechNewsDaily, iPadNewsDaily, OurAmazingPlanet, BusinessNewsDaily, MyHealthNewsDaily, NorthOrion, SecurityNewsDaily, InnovationNewsDaily, IT TechNewsDaily, Herman Street and Life's Little Mysteries.
The company distributes content through its owned and operated websites, syndication partners and website partners, and publishes LAPTOP magazine.
To learn more about TechMediaNetwork, visit TechMediaNetwork.com, the TechMediaNetwork Facebook page or follow the company on Twitter @TMN_TechMedia.
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