SB Nation: Startup Sports Blog Network Backed By Tech, Media Luminaries

SB Nation: Startup Sports Blog Network Backed By Tech, Media Luminaries

Former AOL programming chief Jim Bankoff has secured a mid-seven-figure sum of venture capital for SB Nation, a startup network of sports blogs, from a group of digital media and technology luminaries.

The round of funding was led by Accel Partners, the Silicon Valley private equity firm best known for its backing of Facebook and led in part by Boston Celtics minority owner Jim Breyer. Additional funding came from Allen & Co.; AOL vice chairman emeritus and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis; Brent Jones, former San Francisco 49ers player and now managing director of private equity firm Northgate Capital; former Yahoo! senior executives Dan Rosensweig and Jeff Weiner; and several executives from Providence Equity Partners, the venture capital shop where Bankoff remains a senior adviser.

In addition, SB Nation's management team has added Mark Lazarus, president of media and marketing for Atlanta-based Career Sports & Entertainment, as a senior adviser.

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