ICX Media Builds Executive Team, Board of Directors
Since 2015, former Millennial Media executive Michael Avon has been quietly building what could be the next great commerce platform for Internet content creators.
OK, sure, the growth hasn’t been all that quiet. In October, his D.C.-based startup ICX Media closed a $6.6 million Series A funding round, following its $2.5 million seed round raise in March 2016. In January 2017, ICX Media landed a new video series with local entrepreneur Robert Morgan. More than 850,000 video creators use the platform, which launched in 2016.
Michael Avon, CEO and founder of ICX Media
Today, ICX Media announced they’re bringing on a new president and chief operating officer, Scott Bowen, as the company prepares for its next phase of growth. Along with this announcement, ICX Media has also recruited Laura Lang, former TIME Inc. CEO, to its board of directors.
ICX Media offers a data platform for performers, artists and social media stars so they can see who exactly is consuming their content and find the best way to expand their online reach. On the flip side, ICX Media also works with large companies to give them access to these content creators with the hopes of creating branded content. Large companies pay the startup a licensing fee.
Bowen joins ICX Media from Vistaprint where he was the vice president and general manager of its SaaS-based digital services division. Bowen’s resume also includes executive roles at Arlington, Va.-based OpenText.
In a statement to DC Inno, Avon said the new personnel additions will help ICX Media build out their enterprise business in 2018. In his new role, Bowen will be hands-on in all “‘go-to-market’ activities,” Avon said, including sales, business development, marketing and operations.
“Scott brings a long and successful career in building media, marketing and software businesses,” Avon said. “We think he is the perfect person to join our executive team at this exciting time.”
Lang officially joined the board of directors in the fall. She stepped down from her role as CEO at TiME in 2013, and since then, she’s joined the boards at VF Corporation, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Steiner Leisure Limited and appliance retailer PIRCH.
“Laura brings deep experience with brands, agencies and media companies,” Avon said. “[She] brings a wealth of experience and insights to our already impressive group of board members and advisors.”
As The Washington Business Journal reports, ICX Media now has 19 employees and the startup plans to open a third office in Los Angeles. ICX Media has operations in both D.C. and New York City already, and Avon told DC Inno that they’ve already outgrown their current D.C. headquarters and the startup plans to move to a more permanent location later this winter.
“You should expect to see a lot of growth this year,” Avon said.
“Growth in headcount as we build out our sales, marketing teams, operations and data science teams. Growth in number of clients — particularly brands and media & entertainment companies. Growth in the number of creators and filmmakers on our platform, which today numbers nearly 1 million. And continued growth in the market as we expect to see digital video viewership and monetization continue to skyrocket in 2018.”