The model that works

Political news site The Huffington Post received $25 million in a financing round led by VC firm Oak Investment Partners.

HuffPo plans to invest in infrastructure, increase in-house advertising capabilities and expand content offerings. The site primarily curates political content from other web destinations, but plans to launch a new investigative journalism initiative and unveil local versions of HuffPo in select metropolises.

More video will also be a priority, according to founder Arianna Huffington. And while she did not specify whether the site would entertain video advertisements, the evolution is likely.

"Much of the news media business needs to be reassembled online around an ad-supported model," stated general parner Fred Harman of Oak Investment Partners. "We believe that The Huffington Post has built a platform and business model to be among the leaders in aggregating this audience online."

Harman — who shall join HuffPo's board of directors — offered Oak's full support in scaling it "both organically as well as through acquisitions of additional talent and new media companies."

The $25 million infusion values the company at about $100 million.

During the presidential campaign trail, the site was rated one of the fastest-growing political destinations online.