Mode Media, Inc. (previously Project Y and Glam Media), was a digital lifestyle

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

operating a suite of websites where content was produced by anyone but reviewed by professional editors prior to publishing. In 2013, Mode Media had a valuation of about $1 billion as the company prepped for an

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. In 2015, Mode Media had grown to over $100 million in revenue, primarily from providing native content, branded video and digital advertising to large brands but had over $100 million in expenses. On 15 September 2016, Mode Media abruptly shut down its operations, with operations of its Ning division passing to a New York-based company, Cyndx. In 2022,

Static Media Static Media Inc., the business name of 7Hops.com Inc., is an American internet company established in 2012, incorporated in Delaware, and based in Indianapolis. It operates ZergNet, a content recommendation business that promotes paid content ...

, a media company based in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana, acquired and relaunched Mode Media's former Glam.com (Women Style, Fashion, Beauty) and Foodie.com (Food Recipes and Restaurants) websites.

History

Mode Media was founded as Project Y, Inc. in 2003 by Ernie Cicogna, Fernando Ruarte, Vic Zauderer, Dianna Mullins, Raj Narayan, Rebecca Bogle Arora,

Susan Kare Susan Kare ( "care"; born February 5, 1954) is an American artist and graphic designer, who contributed graphical user interface, interface elements and typefaces for the first Apple Inc., Apple Macintosh 128k, Macintosh personal computer from ...

, Emmanuel Job and

Samir Arora Samir Arora (born November 5, 1965) is an Indian-American businessman and CEO of Sage Assist, a generative AI company, the former CEO or Kyro and founder of Sage Digital AI from 2016 to 2021, and the former CEO of Mode Media (formerly Glam Media ...

. The company originally was founded as a website to offer fashion and beauty content and blog content. The company launched Glam.com in September 2005 at Fashion Week in New York. As the company grew, it diversified its focus from exclusively targeting a female audience. The company owned and operated Mode.com across 20 lifestyle categories and Channels: Glam (Women Style, Fashion, Beauty), Brash (Men's Lifestyle), Bliss (Health & Wellness), Tend (Parenting), Foodie (Food Recipes and Restaurants) and Entertainment, Music and Video. In June, 2007, Mode Media became the #1 women's web property in the US as reported by comScore. In September, 2007, Mode Media launched its first discovery product "Glam Curator" and started to popularize the term "curation" as a new way of filtering content in the social web. In January 2009 Mode acquired Personiva Inc, along with this Glam India Pvt. Ltd. a 100% subsidiary India company was created. Glam India created Glam Adapt, the Ad serving engine for Mode Media previously known as Glam Media. In September 2011, Mode acquired Ning, a social media platform that allowed users to create custom social networks. In 2014, Glam Media was renamed to Mode Media. In 2014, Mode Media launched Mode Studios, to create original video series, branded entertainment and digital films in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 2015, Mode Media launched Mode Video streaming platform In total, the company raised approximately $225 million from silicon valley venture firms Accel, DFJ, Walden, Information Capital and investors Burda and Dentsu. After abruptly ceasing operations in September 2016, operations of its Ning division passed to a New York-based company, Cyndx. Mode Media did not file for bankruptcy protection.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Companies based in San Mateo County, California Online advertising services and affiliate networks Mass media companies established in 2003 Online companies of the United States Privately held companies based in California