ManiaTV Raises $9.5M, Launching Mobile

ManiaTV has raised $9.5 million in venture capital and debt. The video startup has gone through quite a transformation over the last nine months, with a new CEO (Peter Hoskins, former COO), a new focus on original content (meaning ditching user-generated stuff), a move from Denver to Hollywood (and into a 13,000-square-foot sound stage), and now a whole bunch of new capital.

peHub had reported the company’s $5.5 million in VC money, which came from DAG Ventures and prior investors Benchmark Capital, Centennial Ventures and Intel Capital. Hoskins told us today the company also raised $4 million in debt alongside the equity round, explaining that ManiaTV’s revenue was strong enough for it to command good credit and avoid being further diluted. That brings the company’s total funding to around $26 million.

ManiaTV’s strongest content comes from so-called D-list celebrities such as Dave Navarro and Tom Green. The company had 8.8 million visitors last month, according to comScore. Hoskins would not quantify revenue, which comes primarily from “blue-chip advertisers,” but said “We tripled last year from the year before, and we’ve already nearly met what we did last year [so far] and it’s just in Q1.”

The site will launch a mobile version this month, for which it is producing original mobile material rather than repurposing web stuff, said Hoskins.

ManiaTV has 75 employees, and former CEO Drew Massey remains a board member but is no longer operationally involved.