In a press release today, it was announced that Interactive One, the top online unit of platform for the African American and the New Urban community has bought GlobalGrind, founded by Russell Simmons.
The acquisition cements a previous partnership covering sales, content, tech, product and marketing between the two companies that began in April 2013. Since this partnership began, GlobalGrind.com’s reach has grown approximately 60 percent (rising from 2.5 million unique visitors per month in August 2013 to a projected 4.1 million in December 2014. Interactive One’s overall collection of sites – including Stuff Fly People Like, HelloBeautiful, TheUrbanDaily and NewsOne – reach 33 million unique visitors a month.
Following this acquisition, GlobalGrind Founder Russell Simmons and co-President Michael Skolnik will remain actively involved, with Skolnik staying on board as editor-in-chief.
Noted Mr. Simmons, “I have been very proud of the care Interactive One has given my baby under our partnership to date, and am extremely excited to be contributing my points of view on trends and issues of utmost importance within the community, particularly social justice. GlobalGrind will continue to be a pop culture tastemaker and voice for the hip-hop generation.”
Added Mr. Skolnik: “Having worked closely with Alfred, Tom and the entire Interactive One family, I look forward to this new chapter as we collectively look to expand iOne’s coverage in the areas that matter most to our audience, and to do so while working closely with our new colleagues across the organization.”
Stated iOne President Tom Newman, “Having had the opportunity to already work closely with the GlobalGrind team during the last two years, we have a very clear understanding of how to take this wonderful brand to the next level while holding on to the aspects that have made it the powerhouse it is today with its Millennial audience.” He added, “GlobalGrind, in addition to bolstering our presence in the digital media space, nicely complements our flagship properties, including HelloBeautiful, TheUrbanDaily and NewsOne, with more to come in 2015.”
Source press release.