Blavity

What Blavity does

Blavity Inc. is a privately held, founder-led digital media corporation founded in 2014 in Los Angeles by CEO Morgan DeBaun alongside co-founders Jeff Nelson (COO), Jonathan Jackson, and Aaron Samuels. The company operates a portfolio of owned-and-operated editorial brands — Blavity, AfroTech, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Home & Texture, and Shadow and Act — that collectively reach over 32 million monthly users, with the company website claiming 100 million consumers reached monthly. Two principal operating divisions structure the business: Blavity Media Group (BMG), which monetizes audiences through advertising, sponsorships, live events, the Blavity360° minority-owned publisher network, and (as of 2026) Connected TV inventory via OTTera; and Talent Infusion, which combines the AfroTech professional network and annual AFROTECH Conference (40,000+ attendees, the largest technology conference for Black professionals globally) with a SaaS recruiting platform. Adjacent initiatives include HealthStack, a health-equity and innovation platform under AfroTech, and Blavity House Party, a music festival acquired as RNB House Party in 2023 and rebranded.

The company monetizes primarily through digital advertising and media sponsorship (the dominant stream), event sponsorship and activation around AFROTECH and Blavity House Party, the Blavity360° programmatic publisher network, recurring Talent Infusion SaaS subscriptions, sponsorship resale tied to The Gathering Spot clubs in Atlanta, DC, and Los Angeles, channel sales of OTTera's CTV inventory, and voluntary reader contributions processed via Stripe. Enterprise customers and brand partners include Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, UnitedHealth Group, Walmart, OnStar, and DELEÓN Tequila. GTM motions span enterprise field sales, channel partnerships (OTTera, Blavity360°), event-driven (AFROTECH, Blavity House Party), direct-to-consumer across six owned brands, and community-led growth via AfroTech, HealthStack, the Blavity Creator Collective Fellowship, and The Gathering Spot cross-membership. The company is fully remote in the U.S., operates with 101–250 employees, and has not disclosed additional institutional funding since a 2018 Series A of $6.5 million led by Google Ventures.

Name

Blavity

Legal name

Blavity, Inc.

Website

https://blavityinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Blavity Inc. is a digital media company operating six owned brands (Blavity, AfroTech, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Home & Texture, Shadow and Act) reaching over 32 million monthly Black millennial and Gen-Z users, monetized through advertising, the Blavity360° publisher network, the AFROTECH Conference, Talent Infusion SaaS recruiting, and CTV inventory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Media & Advertising

NAICS

Media Buying Agencies (541830), Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Lead Generation & Performance Media (B2B/B2C) (MPAAACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

B2B / Industrial Market Research (MPAAALAA), Technology & B2B PR (MPAAADAC), Creator Licensing & Rights Monetization (UGC Licensing, Music/Video Rights) (MPACAFAK)

Keywords

• Digital media advertising
• Multicultural content publishing
• Programmatic publisher network
• Recruitment platform software
• Connected tv advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Digital Advertising & Media Sponsorship: Primary revenue stream. Blavity Media Group sells advertising (including CTV inventory via OTTera) and sponsorships across its owned premium brands (Blavity, AfroTech, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Home & Texture, Shadow & Act) and the Blavity360° publisher network, targeting enterprise brand partners seeking reach into Black consumer audiences.
2. Event Sponsorship & Activation: Revenue from sponsorships, branded activations, and on-site experiences at AfroTech Conference (40,000+ attendees) and other live events such as Blavity House Party; partners include Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, UnitedHealth Group, DELEÓN Tequila.
3. Talent Infusion SaaS: Recurring SaaS revenue from the Talent Infusion recruiting platform, allowing clients to build a diverse, pre-vetted talent pipeline.
4. Sponsorship Sales (The Gathering Spot): Revenue from exclusive sponsorship sales at The Gathering Spot private-membership clubs (Atlanta, DC, LA) and on-site activations amplified across BMG's digital platforms.
5. Voluntary Reader Contributions: One-time and recurring monthly voluntary financial contributions from readers to support Blavity's journalism and editorial operations, processed via third-party payment processors (e.g., Stripe).
6. Channel Sales / Inventory Resale: BMG acts as an authorized channel sales partner reselling OTTera's Connected TV and FAST channel advertising inventory to its brand partners.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Core offering

Blavity Inc. operates a portfolio of premium digital media brands (Blavity, AfroTech, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Home & Texture, Shadow and Act) targeting Black millennials and Gen-Z, collectively reaching over 100 million consumers monthly. The company monetizes these audiences primarily through Blavity Media Group (BMG) advertising sales, the Blavity360° minority-owned programmatic publisher network, event sponsorships (AfroTech Conference, Blavity House Party music festival), and the Talent Infusion SaaS recruitment platform.

Product overview

Blavity Inc. is a digital media corporation that organizes its portfolio around two principal operating divisions. The Blavity Media Group (BMG) division distributes premium editorial content across its owned media brands — Blavity, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Home & Texture, and Shadow and Act — and monetizes that audience through the Blavity 360° minority-owned publisher network and live brand experiences such as the Blavity House Party music festival. The Talent Infusion division combines the AfroTech professional network and its annual AFROTECH Conference with the Talent Infusion SaaS recruitment platform. Adjacent to these divisions, HealthStack operates as an AfroTech initiative for health equity and innovation, while BLAVITY.org functions as a related racial equity and social impact nonprofit founded by the same leadership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Blavity Media Group: Division that distributes original content to influential audiences and offers advertising solutions to premium publishers and creators.
• Talent Infusion
• AfroTech
• 21Ninety
• Travel Noire
• Shadow and Act
• Home & Texture
• Blavity 360°
• Blavity House Party

Products and services

• Blavity Media Group (BMG) Advertising Solutions The largest digital media company for Black culture and the millennial generation, reaching over 32 million monthly users. Distributes original content and offers advertising solutions across owned premium media brands, enabling enterprise brand partners to reach Black consumer audiences through integrated digital campaigns.
• Blavity 360° Publisher Network An Ad Publisher Solutions platform that programmatically connects advertisers with a wide range of minority-owned publishers, enabling targeted audience reach across BMG's network of multicultural publishers.
• Talent Infusion SaaS Platform A career and talent SaaS recruitment platform integrated with the AfroTech professional network that enables clients to build a diverse, pre-vetted talent pipeline of candidates.
• AfroTech Conference The largest technology conference for Black professionals globally with 40,000+ attendees, offering event sponsorships and branded activations for enterprise partners such as Microsoft, Amazon, Uber, and UnitedHealth Group.
• Blavity House Party Music Festival A music festival and live events property celebrating Black music and culture, offering sponsorship and on-site activation opportunities for brand partners.
• HealthStack Platform A health equity and innovation platform operated as an initiative of AfroTech, focused on expanding clinical trials access, advancing AI in clinical practice, supporting underrepresented clinicians, and driving health equity outcomes in Heart and Metabolic Health, Maternal Health, and Food as Care.

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Essence Communications: Essence Communications operates Essence Magazine and the Essence Festival, the largest Black-culture media brand and live event, and competes directly with Blavity Media Group for Black women audiences, premium advertising dollars, and event sponsorships.
• Urban One (Interactive One): Urban One is the largest Black-owned media company in the U.S., combining radio, TV (TV One), and a digital portfolio (Interactive One: Hello Beautiful, Bossip, The Root) that directly overlaps with Blavity's audience targeting, multicultural ad network, and editorial verticals.
• The Grio: The Grio is a Black-focused digital news and culture platform owned by NBCUniversal/G/O Media, competing with Blavity.com for Black news, culture, and identity audiences as well as the same multicultural advertising budgets.
• REVOLT Media & TV: REVOLT is a Black-owned music and culture media company with a linear TV channel and digital platform, directly comparable to Blavity in Black audience targeting, content verticals, and brand-sponsorship monetization—particularly via Blavity House Party.
• MadameNoire: MadameNoire is a Black women's lifestyle digital publication covering relationships, career, beauty, and money, overlapping directly with Blavity's 21Ninety and Blavity editorial verticals for the same Black women advertising audience.
• The Shade Room: The Shade Room is a leading Black-focused entertainment and celebrity news digital brand built largely on social distribution, comparable to Blavity and Shadow & Act in audience demographic, advertising sales motion, and reliance on social-platform-driven reach.

Emerging players

• ReachTV: ReachTV is a Black-owned CTV/FAST-channel network available in airports and on connected devices, comparable to Blavity Media Group's newly launched CTV inventory through the OTTera partnership, particularly relevant given the shared focus on Black-audience CTV advertising.
• HBCU Buzz: HBCU Buzz is a digital media platform serving the HBCU and broader Black professional/young-adult audience, partially overlapping with Blavity's AfroTech and Travel Noire audiences and competing for the same multicultural advertising and event sponsorships.

Broad incumbents

• Condé Nast: Condé Nast is a major multi-brand digital media company (Vogue, GQ, Wired, etc.) with a broad multicultural audience strategy and enterprise advertising platform, comparable to Blavity Media Group in multi-brand editorial portfolio and brand-sponsorship GTM, but at much larger scale and broader audience.
• Vox Media: Vox Media operates a large multi-brand digital publishing portfolio (Vox, The Verge, SB Nation, New York Magazine) plus a conference business (Vox Media events) and advertising solutions, comparable to Blavity in the multi-brand media + events + ad-platform model, though at broader demographic scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blavityinc
• Instagraminstagram.com/blavityinc
• Xx.com/blavity
• Facebookfacebook.com/Blavity

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors15 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blavity