That guy from Aligarh ContentNext Media, which owns paidContent.org, mocoNews.net, contentSutra.com and paidContent:UK has been acquired by the Guardian News & Media (GNM), the news media division of UKs Guardian Media Group (GMG). Kara Swisher, who broke the story at AllThingsD, writes that the deal is valued at over $30 million, but founder and Editor Rafat Ali's note on the same doesn't mention a price. As per reports, the payout is based on performance. Ali says ContentNext will remain a stand-alone business. Ali had set up paidContent.org six years ago, as a portfolio to showcase his understanding of the digital content market. ContentNext had received an undisclosed amount of funding of less than $1 million from Alan Patricofs Greycroft Partners. From an Indian perspective, this effectively means that the Guardian now owns an Indian digital media site - contentSutra - and with possibly more resources and bandwidth at its disposal (though - how soon?), one could see an increase in coverage of the Indian digital media space. That can only be good for the ecosystem. At the same time, I wonder if we'll see Ali return to India, and perhaps even look at setting up a venture here. On a personal note: I was with contentSutra for two years - the last year and a half as its editor - and am immensely pleased for Rafat and Staci (Kramer), as well as David Kaplan, Robert Andrews, Joseph Weisenthal and the rest of the team. Editorially, I've considered them the strongest…
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