After Acquisition Leading Technology Providers Now a One-Stop-Shop for More than 1,200 Titles
Berkeley, CA/Southborough, MA – To meet growing demand from the magazine industry for a comprehensive technology solution for digital content publishing, industry leaders Godengo, Inc. (http://www.godengo.com/) and Texterity, Inc. (http://www.texterity.com/) today announced that they have joined forces to create the first unified platform that’s focused on helping publishers leverage digital, web, and mobile media. Under terms of the completed transaction, Godengo, the largest provider of content management systems for magazine publishers, has acquired Texterity, a leading provider of digital magazines and mobile applications. Terms of the private deal were not disclosed.
The combined company provides services to more than 1,200 magazine titles owned by more than 500 publishers throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. It is also the only technology-service provider in the space that helps publishers seamlessly transition, integrate, and enhance their content across multiple digital and mobile platforms, the companies said.
“Godengo and Texterity have complementary expertise, specializations, and cultures, and together we’ll offer a level of functionality and flexibility to clients that is well beyond anything currently in the marketplace,” said Peter Stilson, Godengo’s President and CEO, who will lead the combined company as CEO. “The publishing industry has been looking for a true partner that can meet the full scope of needs in cross-platform digital and mobile integration, and now it has one.”
Before joining Godengo, Stilson served as chief operating officer of Internet Broadcasting (IB) from 2000 to 2008. Prior to IB, he was executive vice president of Norstan Inc., a Minneapolis-based telecommunications company.
Stilson added that a key objective of the combined company, which will be re-branded in the months ahead, is to continue to grow its capabilities. “We’ve just completed raising a Series C round of growth capital and will use those resources to expand and enhance our services and products.” Capital for expansion and facilitating the purchase of Texterity was provided by investors including New Science Ventures.
Carl Scholz, who is currently President of Texterity and previously served as the company’s chief operating officer, will become President of the combined company. Previously, Scholz worked at Houghton Mifflin Company, and also held management and software engineering positions at the Open Software Foundation, Interactive Systems Corporation, and NCR Corporation.
Martin Hensel, who founded Texterity in 1991 and has been at the forefront of the digital publishing industry for more than two decades, will advise the new company as part of his new consulting practice for publishers and media technology firms.
Two Leaders Become One Source for Publishers
Godengo’s clients use the company’s industry-leading content management systems and browser-based software solutions to publish digital and online content for print magazines and weekly newspapers. The company works with media including city and regional, parenting, enthusiast, business, and association publications.
Texterity’s client roster includes Conde Nast, Meredith Corp., Oracle, Rodale, American Chemical Society, Harvard Business Review, IDG Communications, Crain Communications, and Entrepreneur.
In addition to developing digital editions of magazines, catalogues, and other publications, Texterity has strong expertise in building a mobile web reading experience and branded mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, and Android devices.
“With the scope of expertise and capabilities that our combined organization has, we now have products and services to meet the needs of the more than 18,000 magazine publishers in the market,” said Carl Scholz, President of Texterity. “We bring together a wealth of professional experience in management, engineering, sales, project management, customer support, and finance. There’s no question that we’re poised for dramatic growth.”
The Growing Digital Movement
While digital magazine formats are extending the reach of print editions and have been a positive development for the industry, key to continuing to attract digital subscribers is to focus on making the medium as interactive and user-friendly as possible versus just putting content onto websites.
“Our industry is making progress in term of transitioning into digital and mobile media, but to achieve the significant potential they have to offer, we need to improve our overall approach to and use of them,” said Michael Osenga, President, Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications. “The combination of Godengo and Texterity is an extremely important move for our industry, and I think I speak for many publishers when I say we see this as an exciting development.”
William Cobert, CEO of EBITDA Media, LLC., a media consulting firm, served as an advisor for Godengo in its acquisition of Texterity.
About Godengo, Inc.
Based in Berkeley, Calif., Godengo provides publishers with robust online products and digital advertising platforms. These products and services enable publishers to offer their content to their loyal readers through a variety of different media formats. Digital Sales programs provided by Godengo enable publishers to compete more effectively, both online and on mobile/digital platforms while at the same time creating new revenue streams for themselves. Godengo’s Rivista content management system (CMS) is being used by more than 200 titles and many of them were able to double or triple their web traffic in the first six months. The Godengo Online Ad Network harnesses an affluent, upscale audience that reads the wide variety of publications, providing regional and national advertisers with a focused reach into niche and local markets. For more information, visit http://www.godengo.com/.
About Texterity
Texterity (http://www.texterity.com/), founded in 1991, is a privately held company located in Southborough, MA. As a leader in digital and mobile publishing solutions, Texterity creates, maintains, and tracks more than 750 digital editions and builds magazine-branded apps for B2B, consumer, association, niche, and educational titles. Texterity currently has hundreds of magazine-branded apps in Apple’s iTunes Store, Android Marketplace/Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore for Kindle Fire. Their “Total Mobility” program puts publishers on five platforms simultaneously. For more information, please visit http://www.texterity.com/inforequest.
About Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation
Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), is a leading edge venture capital firm that addresses the “capital gap” for start-up and expansion of early-stage technology companies operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MTDC has invested in many of Massachusetts’ most promising new technology-based companies. More information is available at www.mtdc.com.
Contact Information:
George Sopko
Stanton Public Relations & Marketing
(646) 502-3507
GSopko@StantonPRM.com
Jason Morley
Stanton Public Relations & Marketing
(646) 502-3570
JMorley@StantonPRM.com
Mass Technology Development Corporation
Jerry Bird
President
617-723-4920
jbird@mtdc.com
Tags: Godengo, Mobile Publishing, Texterity