News start-up Axios has completed a new round of fundraising, revealing a $20 million new injection of capital to fund an expansion of newsroom staff, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The cash is the second time the company has gone to the bank and was led by Greycroft Partners and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.
The pair of firms were both financiers of Axios’ first round of funding last year which raised $10 million.
The one-year-old Axios — a creation by Politico alumni Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei — plans to use the money for an aggressive expansion into audience development, analytics and newsroom growth. The company currently employs 89 people and is looking to hire 60 more.
Axios, which delivers content through a number of smart newsletters and a rolling series of bite-sized bullet-pointed articles, rapidly gained a reputation as a scoop machine.
The site’s political reporter, Jonathan Swan, has become a near-constant presence on MSNBC, where his stories very often drive newsroom coverage.
Site co-creator VandeHei is still planning to secure the longterm viability of the company with a paywall, but that is not expected to be rolled out until at least 2018 as the site continues to build audience.
Both Axios co-founder Mike Allen and president Roy Schwartz were not immediately available for comment Friday.