"Topix.net has been self-funded by its founders, without any VC involvement. I know that the company did go up and down Sand Hill Road at some point, so this corporate investment might either be a strategic choice, or a fallback. Typical content deals are done at a 3 to 4x revenue multiple these days, but it is not clear what was priced here: technology, enabling new business models, improving the relevance of advertising,...
Update: Bambi Francisco(sub req) is reporting that the investment was less than $5M, and that the capital will be used to build the technology and allow founders to pay themselves a salary.
Update of the update: the maths are more challenging than they seemed."