The News
Semafor today announced it had closed $30 million in new financing as it begins a major expansion of its editorial operations and high-level global convenings. The news comes on the heels of meteoric growth, with Semafor reaching a full year of profitability, $40 million in revenue and $2 million in EBITDA only three years after launch.
The fast-growing independent news platform now embarks on an ambitious expansion of its editorial operations and high-level global convenings. In 2026, Semafor will broaden its portfolio of daily, “first-read” publications for decision-makers; expand its flagship annual Semafor World Economy platform in Washington, DC; and scale its global footprint with investments in new markets across the US, the Gulf, Asia, and Africa.
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Justin’s view
“The proof is in the numbers: we’ve set a new historic standard for the global news industry at a time when it is more challenged than ever,” said Justin B. Smith, co-founder and CEO of Semafor. “With this successful, profitable model in place, we will aggressively invest in our global journalism and convening platforms in the US and around the world.”
Ben’s view
“We’re entering 2026 with enormous momentum in helping the world’s most discerning audience navigate the biggest stories of our time — and in breaking big news from the corridors of power around the world,” said Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor.
Know More
Semafor’s model provides intelligence to global private and public-sector leaders through news briefings and live convenings. Semafor’s one million-plus email subscriptions are heavily concentrated among C-suite readers, including an invitation-only CEO Signal newsletter that counts 75 percent of Fortune 500 company CEOs as engaged subscribers. The Semafor World Economy platform has emerged as the largest annual gathering of CEOs in the United States of America.
Semafor will add to its growing team of beat-defining journalists in Washington, DC, Wall Street, Silicon Valley as well as politics, global business, finance, and economics in order to fuel this acceleration. In 2026, Semafor will also expand its publication schedule: Semafor DC, the platform’s daily email guide to power and policy in Washington, will be published twice daily starting in March; Semafor Business and Semafor Gulf briefings will become daily first-reads. Semafor will also launch a new CEO-focused China news briefing and new audio and video products in Q1 and Q2 of 2026.
Semafor will also accelerate its live journalism convenings. The flagship annual Semafor World Economy platform in Washington, DC will grow from three days to five in 2026, featuring extended programming of news-making conversations with private and public sector leaders on the most pressing issues of the new world economy. Semafor World Economy expects more than 400 of the world’s leading CEOs to participate in person in 2026, more than double the amount of CEOs convened in 2025, making Semafor World Economy the largest global CEO meeting in the US.
About Semafor
Semafor is the world’s fastest growing independent news media company that delivers intelligence through its reporting and live convenings. Founded in 2022 by veteran media executives Justin B. Smith and Ben Smith, Semafor provides intelligent, transparent journalism that cuts through the noise and distills complexity for leaders to navigate the complex and interconnected new world economy. With a global sensibility, reach, and reporting hubs now spanning from Washington DC, Silicon Valley, Wall Street to sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf, Semafor’s journalists around the world power its suite of daily first-read email briefings and signature live journalism convenings. Semafor’s flagship World Economy Summit, anchored in Washington DC, is the largest gathering of top global CEOs in North America, and its convening on emerging economies, The Next Three Billion, is held annually at UNGA and expanded this year to South Africa, East Africa, and UAE. In 2024, Semafor was named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for “rewriting the story” on international reporting.