Totally Interactive Weather, LLC (TiWi), announced Tuesday that it recently received a “strategic investment” from Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.

Financial terms of the agreement, which was made earlier this month, have not been disclosed by either company. TiWi said that the new funds will allow it to “accelerate business development initiatives in areas of digital weather content and online advertising.”

TiWi-which was launched in 2008 by KSTP-TV meteorologist Dave Dahl and his son, Andy Dahl-offers online weather tools to media Web sites, and it bills its technology as “the first online weather software to integrate interactive advertising as part of the product.”

Businesses can purchase TiWi's online tools, such as radar maps and other widgets that display weather forecasts, and then generate revenue by selling ads to be displayed in conjunction with the widget.

TiWi's weather tools currently are used by more than 300 newspaper, television, and radio Web sites. Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns KTSP, is already a TiWi customer.

The elder Dahl first began thinking about a weather Web site in 2006 after fielding phone calls for personal weather forecasts from friends, family, and acquaintances for more than three decades. He determined that there must be a way for the group to get everything it needs with the click of a mouse-and worked to make it happen.

The Dahls hired Webaloo, Inc., a Stillwater-based Web developer, to design and program the site. It integrates significant volumes of data from multiple weather sources.

Andy Dahl said Wednesday that Hubbard Broadcasting is TiWi's first outside investor-until now, the business has been supported by the Dahls. The company plans to seek additional investments from both the angel investor and venture capital communities, he added.

“When making investments, we look for companies that have an established track record of performance and a distinctive market opportunity to redesign the online advertising environment. TiWi unquestionably has both,” Stanley S. Hubbard, chairman and CEO of Hubbard Broadcasting, said in a statement. “TiWi has breakthrough technology, an effective ability to execute, and a strong management team. They are in a great market position with tremendous growth potential.”

Hubbard Broadcasting operates television stations in Minnesota, New York, and New Mexico.