Upworthy?s partnerships with brands such as Unilever and Gap and nonprofits such as the United Nations booked more than $10 million in revenue last year, more than doubling the two-year-old Web site?s goal and validating the wisdom of its focus on delivering viral content experiences for mobile and social audiences.

In 2014, Upworthy's sponsored content performed 38 times better than the industry standard for social interactions against all content of the top 25 social publishers, according to NewsWhip 2014 data, with sponsored posts on climate change, female empowerment and other social issues attracting an industry-leading number of views. Upworthy?s emphasis on human topics and mobile communication makes it a valued portal to connecting with millennials, who want the brands they use to reflect their personal values and resist traditional advertising approaches.

 

?Our specialty at Upworthy is delivering meaningful and heart-driven content experiences that connect on deep, emotional levels with our audience,? said Josh Luger, director of revenue with Upworthy, New York. ?So much so that they stop and think, open their minds to new ideas and perspectives, and feel compelled to share their experience with their friends and family. 

?It's therefore an ideal mobile experience, and a majority of our traffic is mobile as a result,? he said. 

Upworthy, launched in March 2012 by Eli Pariser, former executive director of MoveOn, and Peter Koechley, former managing editor of The Onion, leverages virality to promote stories with a progressive bent on political and social issues.

 

The Millennial generation that will be a big spending group in the years to come cares passionately about the issues on which Upworthy is focused.

?They're thinking about these topics daily, and talking about them constantly with their friends and family,? Mr Luger said. 

?As consumers, all the research shows that they care about the social values of the brands and organizations they support, and they increasingly want them to be married. 

?They're also spending lots of their time engaging with ideas and content on mobile devices and social networks, where we are strongest,? he said. 

Upworthy?s native advertising platform promises to showcase a brand's values, attributes and aspirations. Through its various offerings, including sponsored curation, promoted posts, proprietary optimization and analytical insights ? and most recently, branded content creation ? Upworthy Collaborations works with brands and nonprofits to connect what they stand for with what resonates with the social media community. 

Upworthy established first-in-category brand partnerships across a wide variety of industries in 2014, with clients including Unilever, Whirlpool Brand, Gap, Holiday Inn, Toms, Pantene, Dove, A&E, Universal Pictures, Virgin Mobile, American Family Insurance, and Covergirl.

Its partners from the non-profit world include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations, the Atlantic Philanthropies and the U.S. Fund for Unicef.

Upworthy Collaborations officially launched last April, with Unilever joining as its initial partner.

Upworthy is slated to launch a slew of campaigns this year, anchored by original content it is co-developing with partners. 

Toms, the socially conscious brand and pioneer of the "one for one concept" business model, saw strong results from its Upworthy sponsored series on water conversation.

A Toms-sponsored Upworthy series about water conservation and its impact on the health, society and economy of communities produced a 69 percent rise in monthly community growth on Toms-owned social media channels, while surpassing engagement, impression, and pageview goals, according to Upworthy.

Upworthy?s success with native-like mobile advertising is helping to drive banner ads, which are criticized as lacking creativity and relevance, out of the mobile space. 

Sixty-nine percent of United States mobile advertising spend in 2014 went to Google and Facebook, neither of which uses banner ads and both of which have adopted in-feed, native-like ad formats.

?When we work with partners, we're offering them the ability to reach consumers with that exact same experience, in the most native manner possible,? Mr. Luger said. ?Therefore, the single-user content experience on Upworthy is perfectly suited for our partners to promote themselves and the messages they care about on mobile devices.

 

?We believe that it's imperative to reach people where they are already are, as the battle for attention is increasingly spread across more devices and platforms,? Mr. Luger said. ?And mobile and social media are two places where people are clearly spending more and more of their time.?