Inverse (website)

• 1. Introduction

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  Inverse began in 2015, founded by Dave Nemetz, who had co-founded Bleacher Report. He set out to build a magazine for young readers curious about technology, science, and culture. Seed money got the outlet running, with an office based in San Francisco while its writers worked out of Brooklyn, New York. A launch with that kind of backing and pedigree could easily have settled into a predictable growth curve. Instead, the years ahead brought a funding round, a move across the country, and a wave of layoffs followed by a rebound. Eventually the company was sold to a much larger owner. What kept Inverse afloat through all of that, and what was left of its newsroom a decade later?

• 2. Funding and Expansion

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  In 2016, Inverse closed a $6 million Series A funding round, led by Crosslink Capital with Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments also taking part. By 2017, the company had relocated its headquarters to SoHo in Manhattan, New York City, and grown to about 30 full-time employees plus 25 freelancers. In September 2017, Inverse debuted two shows on the Facebook Watch platform, extending its reach beyond written articles. That expansion came less than a year before the site's audience numbers swung hard in the other direction.

• 3. Layoffs and Traffic Swings

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  On the 15th of August 2018, Inverse laid off six staff writers, about 15 percent of its workforce. The cuts followed reports that monthly unique visitors had fallen from 7.2 million in July 2017 to 5.7 million. By the end of 2018, though, traffic had turned around, averaging just above 7 million total visits a month. That comeback happened less than a year before a new owner entered the picture.

• 4. Behind the Masthead

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  As Inverse's chief executive, Dave Nemetz co-founded the company alongside chief technology officer Winton Welsh and head of product and design Steve Marshall. Senior engineers Michael Schaefermeyer and John Degner rounded out the founding team. All four had previously worked with Nemetz at Bleacher Report, though Marshall, Schaefermeyer, and Degner are no longer at the company. In 2015, the group appeared on Business Insider's Silicon Alley 100 list. Nick Lucchesi holds the title of executive editor at Inverse. In December 2017, David Spiegel, formerly of CNN and BuzzFeed, joined the company as chief revenue officer. He left the next year for New York magazine. That departure came not long before Inverse itself would change hands.

• 5. New Owners, New Cuts

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  On the 23rd of July 2019, Bustle Digital Group announced it had purchased Inverse. On the 22nd of January 2020, Bustle rolled out a redesign called Inverse 2.0. In January 2026, Bustle Digital Group closed Inverse's gaming section and made layoffs, leaving what was described as a "skeleton crew Entertainment Team." Whether that skeleton crew can keep Inverse's science, technology, and culture coverage alive is a question still playing out.