EXCLUSIVE: Surface Magazine Lands $2M in Seed Funding as EIC DepartsThe bimonthly design magazine is making a big shift into digital and video, and an editor in chief isn’t a part of the plan.

[Collection]Surface magazine is again headed for some substantive changes. The design-centric magazine, which publishes a print issue six times a year, down from 10 last year, recently closed its first serious round of funding with Magna Entertainment, a New York-based fund focused on entertainment that’s expanded into media properties. With a valuation of $22 million, Magna is putting up to $2 million into Surface in a seed round, and chief executive officer Marc Lotenberg is planning some changes and content additions. The List, a new element on the Surface web site currently in beta that serves as a guide to various consumer brands and designers, complete with links to their web sites, is intended to be the tentpole of the outlet going forward. “We want to continue with the rigor [in editorial] we’ve been doing, but apply it to original content and more multimedia and more content creation and experiment with different properties,” Lotenberg said. “We’ve launched The List and that’s the foundation we’re building new marketing and content around.” Surface will likely go for a Series A funding round next year and Lotenberg noted a desire for the company to delve deeper into physical experiences beyond a print magazine, like it’s The Diner

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