Advance Publications, the company that owns Conde Nast, plans to spend cash in the digital world.

S.I. Newhouse and the board created a $500 million fund that Yahoo veteran Andrew Siegel can use to invest in digital startups, Keith Kelly reports in the New York Post.

He has already made a number of moves with the money.

The fund was the second investor in Visible Measures, a social video analytics firm with revenues in the eight figures. They reportedly invested more than a $1 million.

Overall, starting a fund of this type is a smart move. The goal isn't to buy companies, but rather to help them along. Siegel says he plans to spend anywhere from $100,000 to tens of millions of dollars per investment.

(Buying companies hasn't gone so well. Earlier this month, Advance spun out Reddit, which was purchased in 2006.)

The new plan adopts a wait and see strategy, with the end goal being that Advance will have some equity and influence if and when the businesses hit big.