• by Larry Dobrow , June 4, 2003

The news earlier this week that Space Holdings had secured $4 million in new financing came as somewhat of a shock to new-media pundits, sort of like snow in April. After all, hadn't everybody been hearing that backers were few and far between during these recessionary times?

"It wasn't easy," admits Space Holdings president and chief executive officer Dan Stone. "There's a great sense of accomplishment that we were able to raise the money we did."

Credit Stone and his newly rejiggered management team for creating a company that has significantly more in common with a multimedia stalwart like Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia than an Internet-only play like Pets.com. In adding the backing from four of its original investors - Blue Chip Venture Company, Gannett Co., SpaceVest and Venrock Associates - Space Holdings has shown that there's life after dot-com.

What helped Space Holdings endure the Internet collapse was recognizing early in the game that a company with multimedia aspirations could not survive on web sites alone. "It's easy to say this in retrospect, of course," Stone concedes. "But even when the company was very much focused on the web, it understood a need for traditional mediums as well. We had multiple revenue streams earlier than most."

The company boasts three divisions: consumer media, comprised primarily of the Space.com web site; consumer products and experiences, featuring the Starry Night brand of astronomy software and other products sold through retail and education channels; and trade publishing, which produces Space News and sponsors industry conferences. It's this diversity of product which makes Space Holdings an ideal buy for companies hoping to reach a highly desirable audience, according to Stone.

"We hit the consumer at different places, which is what advertisers are demanding," he explains. "The day of the single-media buy has come and gone. It's naïve to think there's any one solution."

As for that Space Holdings consumer, it's one that advertisers in any number of categories - automotive, pharmaceutical, you name it - covet highly. Stone notes that his company's audience tends to be wealthy, highly educated and intellectually curious. "And we're touching that demographic where they work and play - everywhere they consume media," he crows. Stone does admit that his subject matter makes his task a bit easier in that regard: "Space is attractive to advertisers because it is positive, aspirational and forward-thinking. That's why you see it used in lots of ad campaigns that have nothing to do with space."

As for the future, Space Holding is forging ahead with a business plan that "is not dependent on the economy getting stronger," according to Stone. Additional products and services are likely to be a part of it, as well as continued editorial expansion.

"On the site, we have genuine enthusiast experts who report and edit, and we have valuable intellectual property off it," he says. "Everything we do has its root in credibility, and I think that means a lot to both our audience and our advertisers."