German media group Hubert Burda has bought a minority stake in New York-based science publisher Seed Media Group to bring its ScienceBlogs network to Europe. Launched in 2006, ScienceBlogs is a compendium of 65 journals on topics from biology to science policy, two of which won 2006 Weblogs Awards, with an audience of graduate readers mainly in their 30s. FAZ reported the investment was in the single-digits of euro millions and for a minority stake, quoting Hubert Burda R&D MD Marcel Reichart: “We want to start ScienceBlogs in Germany as early as possible; probably in the coming year.”

Seed, which also publishes the printed science mag of the same name, monetises ScienceBlogs through sponsorship and “blogvertorials” and claimed 1.7 million monthly visits in August. In a release, it said 30 percent of ScienceBlogs’ traffic comes from outside the US. Hubert Burda Media will help Seed find European bloggers (whether science journalists or researchers), who will benefit from a revenue share, FAZ said. Hubert Burda Media publishes the Focus news magazine in its native Germany (not the BBC Worldwide science mag of the same name), with a website that includes a modest selection of blogs focusing largely on politics and culture but not yet science per se.