ContentNext Media, the parent company of paidContent.org (also MocoNews.net and ContentSutra) has received an undisclosed amount in first-round funding from Alan Patricof's new venture capital firm Greycroft Partners, paidContent's Rafat Ali writes. " I look at blogs as the hyper-interactive magazines of the future, only with far greater ability to create communities and expand into new areas," Patricof is quoted as saying.

ContentNext recently brought on former Details magazine president and publisher Jeff Stern as a director and COO. It also plans to hire a journalist in New York and more staff for operations and sales, launch a U.K. vertical and a redesign of its sites, develop conferences and start a research arm, among other projects, according to Ali.

"Our opportunity is to take some money, organize and solidify, choose the right partners, and expand/accelerate what we're doing. In the end, keep our heads down and keep doing what we do best: write, report, bring the industry together to discuss and help them do business," Ali writes.