TechCrunch sold to media investment firm Regent

Yahoo has sold TechCrunch, one of Silicon Valley’s most influential tech news sites, to media investment firm Regent.

Regent is currently expanding its portfolio with news websites that focus on technology. Earlier last week, Regent acquired Foundry from International Data Group, which is the home of titles like PCWorld, Macworld, InfoWorld, CIO, TechAdvisor, and other tech publications.

In its latest press release, Regent confirms it also bought TechCrunch.

“We’re excited to bring TechCrunch and Foundry into our portfolio. TechCrunch has been the number one publisher for all things startups since its founding in 2005, and we’re thrilled to expand its reach as it provides breaking technology news, opinions, and analysis on tech companies worldwide to our audience,” the media investment company says.

Yahoo, former owner of TechCrunch, hopes that Regent can help maintain TechCrunch’s influence and support its continued growth. “Yahoo looks forward to a continued collaboration with Regent and TechCrunch, built upon a long-term partnership focused on expanding audience reach, fostering innovative content development, and creating mutual financial growth,” the tech company states.

The deal for TechCrunch is expected to close in the coming weeks. Terms about the acquisition haven’t been disclosed.

TechCrunch was founded in 2005 by Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. Providing data and news stories about technology startups to readers and investors was the website’s initial focus.

In 2007, the company created a data site called Crunchbase that stored startup funding information. This site operated until 2015.

TechCrunch has been subjected to several changes in ownership over the past few years. The tech site was acquired by AOL in 2010 and came under Verizon’s ownership in 2015. Verizon had acquired AOL and Yahoo that year, but sold its media arm to Apollo Global Management in 2021.

Last year, TechCrunch laid off several staff members as it eased off its subscription offering TechCrunch+.