Online publisher Populis has bought mokono, Germany’s largest blog network for €8.2m (£7.2m).
The deal comprises the total of mokono’s localised blog networks across 13 European countries and Canada adding 14 million unique monthly users across its 700,000 registered blogs to Populis’s substantial network of online media properties.
Included in the deal are the influential media properties www.blog.co.uk and www.blog.de.
Included in the acquisition is mokono’s social advertising platform, which provides advertisers with a single access to a range of social advertising solutions such as social ads, videoseeding or product reviews across the mokono network and its affiliated blog portals.
“We are delighted to welcome mokono to the Populis Group. The strategic acquisition reinforces Populis’s leadership in the production of multilingual vertical content and greatly increases its presence in key European markets such as Germany and the UK,” said Luca Ascani, Co-Founder and Chairman of Populis.
“In addition to a significant growth in traffic, independent websites, writers and media properties, the acquisition also greatly enhances our technology assets. mokono’s unique social advertising platform connects advertisers to bloggers, providing advertisers with a single access to one of the most influential consumer segments online. Bloggers in turn benefit from several easy to use revenue streams which they can apply to fit their individual needs.”
Vasco Sommer-Nunes and Florian Wilken, Co-founders and Managing Directors of mokono, will continue to manage the company’s operations and staff from its headquarters in Berlin.
“Joining forces with Populis is a huge benefit to mokono with the integration into an extensive network of premium media properties. We will be able to serve advertisers and bloggers even better than before and are excited to expand our advertising services into new international markets, providing our clients with an increased demographic reach across a wider range of online media. This in turn will deliver higher visibility and more effective campaigns,” says Vasco Sommer-Nunes, Co-Founder and Managing Director of mokono.
Past funding came in part from Burda Digital Ventures (BDV), the financial investment arm of Burda Digital, which owned a minority stake since 2007. “The mokono team has been successful in developing truly innovative business models for digital media,” said Harald Ebrecht of venture capital firm Acton Capital Partners, which managed the investment for BDV. “We very much enjoyed working with them and see a great future for mokono as part of the Populis network.”
www.mokono.com
