• by Melynda Fuller , January 30, 2020

Media email newsletter Morning Brew is reporting a surge in revenue, new subscribers and a slate of key new hires as it enters its fifth year.

Since 2019, Morning Brew has grown revenue from $3 million to $13 million, a 333% increase.

After reaching 1 million subscribers last March, the publication expects to hit the 2 million mark this spring. Its podcast, “Business Casual,” has recorded more than 1 million downloads. And its industry vertical, “Retail Brew”—also launched last year, has increased frequency to three times a week and counts 100,000 subscribers.

“On the audience side, we take a full-funnel approach to growth. We believe in the power of brand, we have a robust referral program, we leverage creative content partnerships, and we take a hyper-focused approach to subscriber acquisition,” Austin Rief, COO of Morning Brew, told Publishers Daily.

“From an advertising perspective, we are offering our partners custom, content-first experiences on-brand for Morning Brew that bring value to our subscribers and lead to real results for our brand and agency partners. This focus has largely created long-term relationships and partnerships with our clients vs. one-off deals.”

To support the business' growth, Morning Brew has tapped a team of executives across revenue operations, brand marketing, talent acquisition and content strategy.

The new team includes Samir Sheth, senior vice president-head of content, Erika Velazquez Alpern, senior vice president-head of brand and product marketing, Jason Schulweis, senior vice president-head of brand partnerships and Kate Noel, vice president-head of people operations.

Prior to joining Morning Brew, Sheth held executive positions at News Deeply and Bertlesmann. He will oversee the editorial department, leading content strategy, operations and growth across Morning Brew’s media franchises.

Alpern, who will oversee branding and design, social media and PR, events and B2C/B2B marketing for Morning Brew, brings experience from positions at The New Republic, The Guardian and Tactile, where she was a founder.

Set to lead revenue organization and increase profitability through native advertising and branded content campaigns, Schulweis was previously senior vice president at MediaLink, vice president of marketing solutions at Live Nation Entertainment and director of advertising solutions-sales marketing at Thrillist Media Group.

Finally, Noel was director of HR at The Daily Beast prior to Morning Brew. She will oversee company culture, talent and continue to build the company’s team.