Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff: ‘We’ll be a profitable company this year’

Vox Media is the fast-growing media startup behind SB Nation, The Verge, and Polygon. While it supports several relatively young brands, CEO Jim Bankoff said it’s doing very well.

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“The growth numbers are great,” Bankoff said at TechCrunch Disrupt NY. “We’ll be a profitable company this year. … We expect to be very profitable in the near future.”

Vox Media has raised more than $23 million to date from investors like Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners, and Comcast Ventures. It’s put that money to work on supporting well-designed websites and content with high production values, especially video.

The fact that the company is almost profitable is a bit surprising considering that digital media startups have traditionally struggled with finding profitability quickly. Business Insider, for example, had a net loss of $3 million last year and raised another $5 million in funding recently.

Specifically, Bankoff noted that The Verge and SB Nation are profitable businesses, while Polygon isn’t quite there yet.

Vox Creative

Bankoff also used today’s on-stage appearance to announce Vox Creative, a new division of the company that will focus on brand advertising solutions.

Vox Creative will offer resources for helping brands with web and app design, video production, technology, and social media.

“We want to communicate to our audience in the same way that The Verge communicates with its audience — it has consumer appeal, brand appeal,” Bankoff said. “We think it’s a no brainer.”

Bankoff insists that a strict wall will remain between editorial and non-editorial team members for Vox Creative projects.

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Photo via Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat