It’s a big moment for MedCity News. The online news source is being acquired by New York-based Breaking Media.
MedCity News was started by veteran Plain Dealer health care reporters Mary Vanac and Chris Seper, who left their day jobs to create this online new source focusing on health care start-ups, new technology and companies. Vanac left the company years ago; Seper will now become VP of healthcare at Breaking Media and will sit on their board. The staff will continue to work under new management.
Their very first investment was a $30K grant from the Civic Innovation Lab, funded by the Cleveland Foundation, with CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready as their mentor. This was followed closely by a matching $30K investment from Hatch Partners, LLC, founded by Christopher Celeste, an angel group that has done similar seed investments in the media and online space. They received an additional $250K seed investment from Cle-based JumpStart, Inc. in 2010.
Now MedCity News themselves have been acquired, by New York-based Breaking Media, which has been buying B-2-B news sites in specific verticals: government, defense, energy, law, and, now, health care, with a total of $6.5M annual revenue and 20 million monthly uniques.
Seper writes, “Our acquisition by Breaking Media, which publishes go-to sites on topics from law to high finance, is a validation that healthcare has become an even greater force for innovation, for economic growth and in American culture. It’s a validation of all your efforts to change healthcare for the better.
“This is a great moment for me personally, for MedCity and for healthcare. Thank you for helping us get here. It would not have been possible without your loyalty and support. I am excited to continue to lead MedCity under Breaking Media and continue to expand on what we do.”