GENWI takes extra $2M to be the delivery boy of mobile content

Writing is the easy part. It’s distributing your work it effectively and attractively to a range of mobile devices that is the challenge. Cloud publishing company GENWI has added $2 million to it first round of funding to tackle this problem.

The additional investment was spearheaded by from Mike Maples, Jr. of Floodgate Partners and Roger McNamee from Elevation Partners. It adds to the $4 million GENWI took last fall from Nexus Venture Partners, Inventus Capital Partners, and Quest Venture Partners.

GENWI helps outlets like magazines and blogs easily create apps to distribute their content on smart devices. According to CEO PJ Gurumohan, online content creators may want to have an engaging mobile presence but do not have the resources to launch their own mobile apps. GENWI, which stands for Generation Wireless, takes care of this for them.

“With the proliferation of mobile devices, consumption of content happened in apps,” he said in an interview. “Publishers get the idea, but are not moving as fast as they could because it is confusing and expensive. We offer a quick, low risk, easy way for them to get there.”

Publishers upload their content to GENWI’s cloud platform and from there build mobile apps. Editors and designers can manage and curate content and make necessary changes in real-time, while the app is run behind-the-scenes by GENWI.

Distribution is possible across multiple platforms and devices. Customers do not need to create separate apps for separate devices; GENWI will do that for them.

Today, over 15,000 apps use GENWI. Major media outlets like Conde Nast, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, and PBS Kids are clients, as are companies like Deloitte that also have content marketing needs.

The first round of funding went toward improving the product and expanding the client base. The added $2 million is strategic investment, Gurumohan said, from investors who appreciate the importance of high-speed publishing.

“We believe strongly that we are in the Twitter world,” he said. “Magazines have to operate at Twitter-speed. Mike Maples and Roger McNamee understand that.”

GENWI is based in Los Altos, Calif.