Pocket Outdoor Media (POM), the endurance sports media platform, announced the acquisition of the Healthy Living, Fitness, and Outdoor divisions of Active Interest Media (AIM). Included in the AIM acquisition are: Yoga Journal, SKI, Climbing, Backpack, Warren Miller Entertainment, Oxygen, IDEA Health and Fitness Association, Clean Eating, Vegetarian Times, Better Nutrition, NatuRx, Muscle & Performance, Nastar, Fly Fishing Film Tour, National Park Trips, and SNEWS.
The acquisition by POM coincides with the closing of their Series A investment from Jazz Venture Partners, a global investment firm based in San Francisco, with participation from Next Ventures and Zone 5 Ventures.
The AIM brands will join POM’s existing endurance sports brands: VeloNews, Women’s Running, Triathlete, PodiumRunner, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloPress, VeloSwap, and Roll Massif, a recently acquired event production company that produces a series of eight Colorado cycling events.
“The strength of these collective brands positions us to build the premier active lifestyle media destination to meet the needs and interest of our readers on a daily basis, whether they’re beginners or experts—looking for a training plan, healthy recipe, event coverage, nutrition advice, injury prevention and more,” said Robin Thurston, CEO of Pocket Outdoor Media. “Our mission is to inspire people to do the activities they love—yoga, ride, cook, ski, run, swim, hike, climb—with greater enjoyment and knowledge.”
“The synergies of these iconic brands, some of which have been around for over 50 years, uniquely enables Pocket Outdoor Media to deliver an integrated experience never seen before,” said John Spinale, managing partner at JAZZ Venture Partners. “They have already developed a personalized newsfeed and membership experience that allows readers to access content across the POM brands, and it will only be bolstered as they add the AIM businesses to the experience.”
“After getting to know Robin and the Pocket Outdoor Media team, it was clear that we share a great commitment to the communities we serve in Outdoor, Fitness, and Wellness. Our alignment around our shared values, strategy, and Boulder location made this a natural fit for our people and brands. Pocket’s new technology platform unifies, personalizes, and syndicates the best content around the customer journey. Combining their personalization platform with their membership strategy felt like a home run for the brands and team members of AIM’s Outdoor, Fitness, and Active Lifestyle divisions,” said Andy Clurman, CEO of Active Interest Media.
