Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has invested in Henry Blodget’s website Business Insider, according to a report first published by Bloomberg and then confirmed with an internal memo at Business Insider. Bezos led a $ 5 million series E round that also included participation from RRE Ventures and Institutional Venture Partners.
The new investment brings the total amount of money that Business Insider has raised to $ 18.3 million. In the memo to staff, Business Insider CEO and editor-in-chief Henry Blodget writes, “This capital will allow us to continue to invest aggressively in many areas of the business, including editorial, tech/product, sales and marketing, subscriptions, and events. As we mentioned last night, it will also allow us to expand our office.”
Business Insider reportedly lost about $ 3 million, or a quarter of its revenue, in 2012, though Blodget says the site turned a small profit in the first quarter of this year. Business Insider is known for its short news pieces and slideshows. According to the BI memo, Jeff Bezos said that he “sees some parallels with Amazon.” Blodget said the site will now include a disclosure statement whenever it writes about Amazon.
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