• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 10, 2010

Spanfeller Media Group (SMG), the startup led by former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller, has landed an undisclosed amount of initial funding from investors led by SoftBank Capital NY and including Greenhill SAVP, RRE Ventures and Lerer Media Ventures, as well as angel investors. The Wall Street Journal's MediaMemo blog in June reported the round would total about $2 million.

In connection with the deal, SoftBank partner Mike Perlis has been named as SMG chairman.

The company’s inaugural site, focused on food, will be the first in a series of topic-specific vertical channels SMG plans to roll out.  The name and editorial director of the food site will be announced next month.

“SMG’s first foray into online publishing will satisfy a very apparent gap in the ever-expanding food media segment,” said Spanfeller, who left Forbes a year ago to start his own media venture. “Our initial launch will realize the medium’s full potential, and the substantial support we’ve received from investors to date affirms the launch’s viability.”