Picture: SemaforSemafor will “double down on what’s working” in 2026 with new editorial investment in London and Washington DC after reporting its first profitable year, according to co-founder Ben Smith. The publisher focuses on email briefings in several key verticals including politics, business, technology, energy and media. Semafor also announced it had brought in $30m (£21.8m) in new financing, giving it a valuation of $300m (£217.8m). Smith said the “basic thesis” behind Semafor, that a leadership class of audience is broadly dissatisfied with the news on offer to them, “is panning out”. He cited business partner Justin Smith who has said events are “basically the best business that’s really close to journalism – the highest margin, the quickest to stand up, and the best economics”.