Pocket Outdoor Media Acquires Ski And Warren Miller From Active Interest Media

Pocket Outdoor Media (POM), the leading endurance sports media platform, today announced the acquisition of the Healthy Living, Fitness, and Outdoor divisions of Active Interest Media (AIM), one of the world’s largest enthusiast media companies. 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 VENTŪRES, and Zone 5 Ventures.

Included in the AIM acquisition are: Yoga Journal, SKI, Climbing, BACKPACKER, 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 AIM brands will join POM’s existing stable of 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 iconic Colorado cycling events.

The team at Ski said:

When SKI was sold to Active Interest Media in 2013, those of us on staff were stoked to be welcomed into a company with such an established foothold in the outdoor industry. With new coworkers at titles such as Yoga Journal, Climbing, BACKPACKER, and Vegetarian Times, we knew the overlap and chances for innovative collaboration would be rife over the coming years. And indeed they were. So it's with bittersweet excitement that SKI announces new owners in Boulder-based Pocket Outdoor Media.

POM, with offices located just down the road from our own Boulder headquarters, is the leading publisher of endurance-sports media with titles including Triathlete, VeloNews, Women's Running, and more. Also included in the sale is the rest of AIM's Outdoor Group, including Climbing, BACKPACKER, Warren Miller Entertainment, Yoga Journal, Better Nutrition, and Vegetarian Times, plus a few other titles, bringing the total number of enthusiast endurance, outdoor, fitness, and nutrition brands at POM to 20.

As skiers who dive into other passions such as running and biking during the off-season, we're once again grateful and excited for the chance to work with like-minded individuals—and for the opportunity to create even more four-season content to bring to our platforms.

So what does this mean for our readers, fans, and followers? Good things—not only more of the ski industry stoke, stories, images, athletes, and videos you've come to expect, but a chance to broaden our horizons and, hopefully, yours too.

Watch this space for more news as we settle into our new home and brainstorm plans for exciting content and collaborations to come.

The acquisition brings together best-in-class brands, diversifying POM’s media platform and allowing them to better serve active lifestyle enthusiasts and their media partners. The expanded business will continue to focus on putting the needs of its readers first, delivering content and experiences across the wide range of activities they are passionate about.

“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.”

In an evolving media landscape, POM will become the hub for active lifestyle enthusiasts looking to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle. The first phase of their Active Pass membership program was recently launched with perks that include a wide range of premium content, VeloPress books, magazine subscriptions, Roll Massif event access, and training plans through a strategic partnership with Today’s Plan.

“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.

About Pocket Outdoor Media

Pocket Outdoor Media (POM) is the world's leading creator of active lifestyle content. Across web, print, podcast, social and video, our brands engage with over 15 million of the most active and influential consumers in the world every month. Our brands include: Yoga Journal, SKI, BACKPACKER, VeloNews, Climbing, Women’s Running, Triathlete, Better Nutrition, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, Clean Eating, Fly Fishing Film Tour, IDEA Health and Fitness Association, Muscle & Performance, Nastar, National Park Trips, NatuRx, Oxygen, PodiumRunner, Roll Massif, SNEWS, Vegetarian Times, VeloPress, VeloSwap, and Warren Miller Entertainment. Pocket Outdoor Media is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado with offices in San Diego, CA and Toronto, Canada