Epic Media Group (EMG Connexus, Inc.)

Type:	Privately held
Industry:	Internet
Founded:	2001
Founder(s):	Kenneth Chan
Ownership:	Large Private Equity, Venture Capital
Headquarters:	Los Angeles, CA & New York, NY
Country:	USA
Employees:	340 at max headcount, 29 VP & higher incl. 18 C-level
Website:	Epic Media Group
Key People
Art Shaw, CEO [Jan. 2005 - Apr. 2011] Don Mathis, President [May 2010 - Apr 2011], interim CEO [May 2011 - Sep. 2011] Brett Lofgren, Chief Revenue Officer [Aug 2010 - Nov 2011], interim CEO [Dec. 2011 - May 2012] David Graff, General Counsel [May 2010 - May 2012], interim CEO [June 2012 - present] Other key executives: Chris Pirrone, EVP of Epic Marketplace Seth Jacoby, President of FirstLook Charles Black, EVP & GM Sheldon Owen, EVP of Epic Social Qayed Shareef, EVP of Business Development Lynn D'Alessandro, EVP Sales Rob Wison, EVP / Europe Hilbert Ernest, President, Online Intelligence Mitchell Richler, EVP Epic Direct Michael Sprouse, CMO Charles Nowaczek, COO Young Kim, EVP Finance Rick Okin, CIO David Razavi, CTO

Epic Media Group is the trade name for EMG Connexus, Inc. The company is a global digital marketing solutions provider. Epic Media Group provides advertising services, brand building and performance-based customer acquisition solutions.

Epic Marketplace serves as the brand leader and cornerstone of the company, which is ranked within the top 10 data-driven advanced targeting networks, with over 145 million visitors per month.

Background

EMG Connexus has been in business since 2001, and was originally founded as YF Direct, Inc. , and later changed its name to NetBlue in 2004. Art Shaw was appointed CEO in 2005, and in 2006 the original company acquired Vendare Media Group in a merger and changed its name to Connexus. In 2010, the company acquired Epic Advertising in a merger and changed its name to EMG Connexus, aka "Epic Media Group". It has offices located in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco, London, Chicago and Vietnam.

Conceived as an online industry consolidation platform, EMG Connexus has made twenty-two (22) acquisitions since it was founded. The company was accredited by the Better Business Bureau in 2010.

Industry Roll-Up

Conceived as an online industry consolidation platform, EMG Connexus has made twenty-two (22) acquisitions since it was founded. Major transactions include:
• Traffic Marketplace was acquired from Vivendi Universal, 2003
• New.Net, Inc. was acquired from Idealab, 2004
• Vendare Media Group was acquired from Insight Partners, Millennium and Idealab, 2004
• Admodus, Inc. was acquired from Insight Partners, 2007
• Epic Advertising was acquired from TA Associates and Stripes Group, 2010

Brands

Epic-Media Group has a powerful multi-channel integrated traffic distribution capable of feeding different kinds of digital marketing platforms. The company's traffic distribution brands include Epic Marketplace, Epic Direct, Epic Display, Epic Mobile, Epic Social, and Firstlook.

Awards

The company is a recipient of various awards, which include:

• mThink- The Top CPA Network 2010
• Advertising Age- Best Places to Work in Marketing and Media
• Crains Best Places to Work in New York City- ranked third
• Stevie Award Marketing Team of the Year-2009
• 2009 Rebrand 100

Philantrophy

Epic Media Group is also committed in giving back to the community by supporting organizations like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, The Children's Heart Foundation, Coro New York Leadership Center and CHOC Children's Foundation.