Media veteran John Battelle just raised $1.75 million for his latest venture, NewCo

John Battelle, who helped found Wired magazine and digital ad network Federated Media, has raised a $1.75 million seed round for his latest venture, NewCo.

NewCo is a business-conference startup that puts a spin on typical, stuffy business gatherings.

Instead of gathering attendees in an outdated hotel conference room and making them listen to a boring lecturer, NewCo uses the offices of startups and small businesses as venues. The promotion helps introduce the startups and high-growth companies to investors, potential customers, entrepreneurs, and job applicants. Attendees can take behind-the-scenes tours and get first-hand looks at the work environments.

"In the past two years, we've stood up more than a dozen NewCo festivals around the world, on a shoestring budget and with mostly volunteer staff," Battelle said in an announcement on NewCo's website. NewCo, which has been bootstrapped since its 2012 founding, has hosted events in New York, San Francisco, London and Detroit, but more cities are in the works for this year.

"Today marks a critical moment in our own company's journey - we're thrilled to announce our first ever funding round," Battelle wrote. "This seed funding will allow us to expand our staff, build a truly first-class technology platform, create new products in media and beyond, and lean into executing NewCo's mission: 'To identify, celebrate, and connect the engines of positive change in our society.'"

Investors in NewCo's seed round include Obvious Ventures, True Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Transmedia Capital, Freestyle Capital, Foundry Fund, and angel investors including Chris Albinson, Andrew Anker, Bart Knaggs, Michael Lazerow, Dave Morgan, Dave Morin, Jordan Shlain, Owen Van Natta, and Michael Winnick.

You can read NewCo's funding announcement here.