• by Melynda Fuller , August 8, 2018

Set to debut in time for the midterm elections, digital news startup Axios is launching a limited-run documentary series with HBO. 

The show, called "Axios," will be compiled from a multi-format perspective, with breaking news, short documentaries and profiles from politics, technology and culture. The goal is to understand the trends and people impacting the world.

The series is codirected and coproduced by Perri Peltz and Matthew O'Neil. 

Many of Axios’ journalists will appear on the show, including cofounders Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei, business editor Dan Primack and chief technology correspondent Ina Fried.  

According to The Wall Street Journal, the new partnership is part of Axios’ plan to “gradually expand the breadth of content the company publishes and experiment with new formats.” HBO is financing the new content to compete against Netflix. 

At present, HBO hosts a lineup of current-events TV, including Vice News Tonight and Last Week Tonight.

Axios’ turn to television follows recent funding; it raised $20 million to aid expansion and explore “deep dives,” which enhance the quick hits found in its popular emails. 

VandeHei told the Journal the company is set to double its revenue in 2018 to more than $20 million through “short-form native advertising” with Facebook and Boeing. 

 Axios employs 123 people and reaches deep science, AI and varying areas of technology.