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Internet Basics
Online CommoditiesConsumer and Creator
1. Creator = Consumer2. The Active Consumer3. βCreator-GTMβ3.A. Where the Viral Things Are4. The Anonymous Economy5. Pre-founder: People-focused investingNonTechnicals
5.A. Nontechnicals5.B. βCleanupβ5.C. Content is Eating the WorldCreator Studies
1. Intro to Creator Studies2. Intro to Creator Policy3. Intro to Creator Investing4. A Spectrum of Influence5. Influencing Influencers6. The History of the Creator Economy [working]2. View: ResearchInvestment
Total Content Market (TCM)/Content TAM (C-TAM)Not Real FoundersRevisiting Community InvestingRethinking Consumer LTVβOrganicβ = unpaid?Introducing: On-Page Collaboration, LiveWriting, anti-Press PublishVC Managers: Finding your styleWomenβs Consumer (2022)The βonlineβ buttonTranslation
βGenZβDirectoryPersonal Journal
An intro to Personal JournalAdvice for a Y1/Y2 woman in VCAdvice for a Y3 woman in VC My love letter to JournalistsWomen and Wikipedia βPedigreeββContextββLeversββExamplesβMe & PaulVery Specific AdviceWhy I dropped outHow to be JealousContent vs. JournalismΒ© EM 2024
An intro to Creator Financing & Investing
How I like it⦠and how other people like it.
Co-investors
This β Iβm not too sure yet. Could be traditional VCsβ¦ could be ex-media funds. To be helpful hereβs a list of media funds:
Fund Name | Description | Types of Investments | Investment Tags | Partner Leads (historically) | Office Location | Geographic Focus | Check Size | Capital Type | AUM | Example Portfolio Co's | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Watertower Group | investment bank and seed fund focused on entertainment and consumer startups | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Derek Norton | Los Angeles | North America | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Women Nation Fund (by Live Nation) | Live Nation's fund for female entrepreneurs focused on live entertainment | VC (Seed) | Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting | Los Angeles | Global | $50-150k | Corporate Venture | ||||
Waverly Capital | VC firm focused on media (the new incarnation of Daniel Leff's Luminari Capital) | VC (Series A-B) | All things media | Edgar Bronfman Jr.,Daniel Leff | San Francisco,New York | North America | VC/PE Fund | $100M | Novel Effect | ||
VGC Partners | London-based consumer & media VC/PE firm | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting | London | EuropeUK | Β£150k-5m | VC/PE Fund | Β£150m | SuperAwesome | ||
WISE Ventures | sports, media, and real estate related startup investments by the Wilf family who own Garden Home Development and are co-owners of the Minnesota Vikings and Nashville MLS; created esports team in Minnesota with Gary Vaynerchuk | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Social mobile / Social media,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands | Brian Cargo,Steven Wilf,Jonathan Wilf,Mark Wilf,Zygi Wilf,Leonard Wilf | New York | North America | Family Office | Venn, you.i TV, VenueNext, WSC Sports, Tonal, GameOn Technology | |||
WndrCo. | holding co that does control investments in media plus has an active seed VC arm writing $100k checks. Parent company of Quibi. | Not very active in entertainment or seed-stage investing anymore. Mainly focused on growth stage software companies. | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Augmented & Virtual Reality | Justin Wexler,Anthony Saleh,ChenLi Wang,Ambereen Toubassy,Ann Daly,Sujay Jaswa,Jeffrey Katzenberg | Los Angeles,San Francisco | Holding Co | |||||
Vision Venture Partners | esports investment firm (seems defunct) | VC (Growth)VC (Series A-B) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Gaming / Esports | Stratton Sclavos,Amit Raizada,Rick Fox | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | Vision Esports, Echo Fox | ||||
TechStars Music | accelerator for music-related startups | Startup Accelerator | Music,Music Tech / Music Streaming | Los Angeles | Community, Endel | ||||||
The VR Fund | early stage VC dedicated to immersive media | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Augmented & Virtual Reality | Marco Demiroz,Tipatat Chennavasin,Hironao Kunimitsu | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Transcend Fund | The Transcend Fund is an early stage venture capital firm that partners with some of the most ambitious and talented founders in the gaming industry to collaboratively build the future of digital entertainment. | VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Shanti Bergel,Graham Gockley | San Francisco | Global | $200k-2m | VC/PE Fund | $50M | ||
V2 Games | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Samarth Chandola | Vancouver | |||||||
Third Wave Digital | early stage digital media VC in LA | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Social mobile / Social media,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Gaming / Esports,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,All things media | Allen DeBevoise | $50M | Narativ, All Def Digital, PlutoTV, Salted, Gunslinger Studios, Vessel, Immortals, Digitour | |||||
Venista Ventures | VC (Seed) | Christian Teichert | Cologne | Europe | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
VGames | early stage VC focused on game studios in Israel & Eastern Europe | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Eitan Reisel | Tel Aviv | IsraelEurope | VC/PE Fund | $30M | |||
Upfront Ventures | large VC firm in LA, generalist with some media related deals. Kevin Zhang leads focus on gaming and interactive media | VC (Series A-B) | Kevin Zhang,Mark Suster,Kara Nortman | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
The Information Accelerator | accelerator for news publishing startups | Startup Accelerator | Publishing / News | Jessica Lessin | San Francisco | $25,000 | Corporate Venture | ||||
United Talent Agency | VC (Series A-B) | All things media | Sam Wick | Los Angeles | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Tencent | active corporate VC of China's leading consumer tech company | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Gaming / Esports,Social mobile / Social media,Gaming/Esports | Shenzhen,San Francisco | Global | Corporate Venture | |||||
The Fund | trio of micro-VC funds each focused on LA, NYC, and London startups with money for each fund contributed by local founders & execs who act as mentors. Broad focus, including media/entertainment related startups. | VC (Seed) | Anna Barber | Los Angeles,London,New York | North AmericaEurope | $50,000 | VC/PE Fund | Blerp, The Block, Playbook | |||
Stardom Ventures | focused on Israeli startups in video tech, content, adtech, marketing, & commerce categories, backed by media companies Keshet and Dick Clark Productions | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Danny Peled | Tel Aviv | Corporate Venture | $65m | odo, syte, deepdub.ai | ||||
Supernode Global | media-focused VC firm led by Michael Sackler, who is the sole LP. Affiliated with Rooks Nest Productions | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Telecom / Communications Infrastructure,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Publishing / News,Podcasting,Music Tech / Music Streaming,Gaming/Esports,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Content Rights / Licensing,Augmented & Virtual Reality,All things media | Phoebe Arkell,Gina King,Michael Sackler | London | Global | Up to $1 million | VC/PE Fund | Fiit, Playdeo, Disruptor Beam, TRX.TV | ||
Sweet Capital | consumer mobile focused seed VC funded by founders of King games...focused on gaming-related and interactive media startups but won't invest in games | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Christian DΓΆrffer,Pippa Lamb | London | EuropeNorth America | $500k | Family Office | ||||
TCG Capital (fka The Chernin Group) | led by Peter Chernin. Acquiring, incubating, and investing in consumer companies, particularly in media. Active in acquiring media brands | VC (Growth) | All things media | Jason Bergsman,Stephen Cousineau,Mike Kerns | Los Angeles | North AmericaAsia | Holding CoVC/PE Fund | ||||
Station12 | VC (Growth) | Patrick Bradley | London | Europe | ~Β£10M | VC/PE Fund | Β£150M | ||||
Strand Venture Partners | Late-seed & Series A/B investor focused on sports & entertainment, food & beverage, and real estate related startups | VC (Series A-B) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports | Jamie Shortill | Los Angeles | North America | $50k-500k | ||||
Spark Capital | large generalist VC firm, perhaps most famous for being one of the main early investors in Twitter | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Brian Watson,Bijan Sabet,Kevin Thau | San Francisco,Boston | North America | VC/PE Fund | $2.5B+ | Twitter, Discord, Niantic, Mirror, Medium, Overtime, DescriptCameo, Snap, Brud, | |||
Supercell Ventures | corp VC arm of mobile games giant Supercell | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports | Jaakko Harlas | Helsinki | Global | Corporate Venture | ||||
Super!com | investor/publisher for games | Gaming / Esports | $50M | ||||||||
Spintop Ventures | seed stage VC in Nordics | VC (Seed) | All things media,Gaming / Esports | Erik Wenngren | London,Stockholm | Europe | VC/PE Fund | Dazzle Rocks, Small Giant Games | |||
Structure Fund | VC (Seed) | Digital Video / Digital Media Brands | Adam Shaw,Brad Zions | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | Naritiv, | |||||
SPH Media Fund | corp VC of Singapore Media Holdings | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | All things media | Boon Ping Chua,Kevin Low,Wei Cong Seah | Singapore | Global | $1-1.5M | Corporate Venture | $75M | Wochit, Jukin Media, Victorious, Iris.tv | |
Sky Plc | corporate VC of Sky | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | All things media | James McClurg | London | Global | Corporate Venture | ||||
Sisu Game Ventures | dedicated gaming VC focused on Nordics/Europe | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Samuli SyvΓ€huoko | Helsinki | Europe | VC/PE Fund | Doppio Games, Mainframe Industries, Singa, Resolution Games | |||
Sinai VC | Series A/B focused VC, strong consumer focus with many media-related deals. Managing Partner Jordan Fudge also has a film financing fund | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed)Gro | Jordan Fudge,Zach White | San Francisco,Los Angeles | Global | VC/PE Fund | $600M | ||||
Sequoia Capital | often considered top VC firm in world, has done some big media-related deals like YouTube and Unity but is generalist | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Jess Lee,Stephanie Zhan | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
Serena Capital | focused mainly on French startups; manages the V13 fund for entertainment startups on behalf of French lottery FDJ | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Olivier Martret | Paris | Europe | β¬200k to β¬15m | VC/PE Fund | Darewise, 8SEC, PandaScore, Shadow | ||
Serena Ventures | VC fund of tennis icon Serena Williams | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Alison Rapaport | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
Smash Ventures | new firm; led big SPV into Epic Games | VC (Growth) | Eric Garland,Evan Richter | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | Epic Games | |||||
Skycatcher | hedge fund making growth VC and seed VC investments in gaming and in emerging markets consumer mobile. | VC (Growth)VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Sia Kamalie | Austin | Global | Hedge Fund | ||||
Seven Ventures | affiliate of ProSiebenSat.1 | Media-for-Equity | Munich | Europe | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Remagine Ventures | media-focused VC with top European media conglomerates as Limited Partners | VC (Seed) | All things media | Eze Vidra,Kevin Baxpehler | Tel Aviv,London | EuropeIsrael | VC/PE Fund | Syte, MinuteMedia, Vault, Novos, Hour One, Madskil | |||
Raptor Group | family office of hedge fund billionaire Jim Pallotta...invests in media/sports related startups among other things and owns major sports teams | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,All things media | Jim Pallotta,Clifford Friedman | Boston,New York | Family Office | Boston Celtics, AS Roma, Sport AD, Sports Rocket, TicketManager, FanManager, Fnatic | ||||
ProSiebenSat.1 Accelerator | Startup Accelerator | Jens Pippig | Berlin,Munich | Europe | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Progression Fund | consumer internet / digital media seed VC | VC (Seed) | Mark Linao,Matt Lee | Los Angeles,San Francisco | North America | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Sapphire Sport | dedicated sports media fund by Sapphire Ventures | VC (Series A-B) | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports | Doug Higgins,Michael Spirito,Nino Marakovic | San Francisco | $3-7M | VC/PE Fund | $115M | Overtime, Fevo, mycujoo, Tonal, Pheonix Labs | ||
Raine Group | top media merchant bank, with PE fund, VC fund, and hedge fund | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | All things media | Joe Ravitch,Jeff Sine,Courtney Favreau,John Salter,Jason Schretter,Gordon Rubenstein,Colin Neville | New York,Los Angeles,London,San Francisco | VC/PE FundMerchant Banking | |||||
Raised in Space | music-tech focused VC firm affiliated with Scooter Braun and Ripple | VC (Seed) | Music,Music Tech / Music Streaming | Shara Senderoff | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Reach Capital | education focused VC, will look at educational media deals | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Digital Learning / Educational Content | Jennifer Carolan,Shauntel Poulson,Chian Gong,Wayee Chu,Esteban Sosnik | San Francisco | North America | VC/PE Fund | ||||
Schibsted Growth | corp VC of media conglomerate Schibsted | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Marc Brandsma,Rune RΓΈsten,Richard Sandenskog,Martin Frey | Stockholm,Oslo,Paris | EuropeNorth America | Corporate Venture | |||||
Raffay Media Ventures | VC (Series A-B)Media-for-Equity | Aljoscha Kaplan | Berlin | Europe | VC/PE FundCorporate Venture | ||||||
Omidyar Network | impact investing group of ebay founder Pierre Omidyar...funds media related to promotion of democracy / strong journalism | Grants/Impact InvestingVC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | San Francisco | Global | Family OfficeFoundation | ||||||
Play2Live fund | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Europe | $50-150k | Corporate Venture | $2M | |||||
Plus8 Equity Partners | music-focused VC firm | VC (Series A-B) | Music,Music Tech / Music Streaming | John Acquaviva,Rishi Patel | London | VC/PE Fund | Endel, Splice | ||||
NTT Docomo Ventures | VC arm of NTT DOCOMO, Inc., investing in tech with a particular interest in communications and content platforms. | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Tokyo | Global | $2-3M | Corporate Venture | Wave, Genvid, Paronym | ||||
Northzone | leading European VC best know for Spotify...generalist firm but looks at media / gaming | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Gaming / Esports,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting,Publishing / News,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Telecom / Communications Infrastructure,Social mobile / Social media,All things media | PΓ€r-JΓΆrgen PΓ€rson,Wendy Xiao Schadeck | London,New York,Stockholm | EuropeNorth America | VC/PE Fund | Spotify, Klarna, | |||
North Base Media | seed @ for news publishing startups globally | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Publishing / News,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands | Marcus Brauchli,Sasa Vucinic | Washington DC,Seoul | South AsiaMENASouth America | VC/PE Fund | ||||
Play Ventures | new gaming-focused seed VC firm | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Henric Suuronen,Harri Manninen | Helsinki,Singapore | Global | $500K-$1M | VC/PE Fund | |||
Next 10 Ventures | VC and incubation studio focused on startups related to online content creators / influencers...founder Ben Grubbs led creator relations at YouTube | VC (Seed)Incubation Studio | Content Rights / Licensing,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands | Benjamin Grubbs | Los Angeles,Singapore | Global | VC/PE Fund | $50M | |||
NFX | VC firm focused on startups with network effects ("NFX")...very strong on gaming and interactive media | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports,Social mobile / Social media,All things media | Gigi Levy-Weiss,James Currier,Pete Flint | San Francisco,Tel Aviv | IsraelEuropeNorth America | VC/PE Fund | Patreon, Houseparty, Path, Playtika, Lyric, Feedly, Crackle, Flickr, Second Life, Sounds, Friend.ly, Skout, Plarium, MyHeritage, Storyhunter, Swell | |||
Next Media Accelerator | Startup Accelerator | Dirk Herzbach Zeiler | Hamburg | Europe | |||||||
Night Ventures | $20M VC fund by Night Media, a talent management firm the manages influencers like Mr. Beast and Preston. LPs in the fund are primarily top social media / gaming influencers. | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports,Social mobile / Social media | Reed Duchscher | Dallas | North America | up to $300k | VC/PE Fund | $20M | ||
Muse Capital | seed VC focused on consumer startups. Many ties to entertainment industry | VC (Seed) | All things media | Rachel Springate,Assia Grazioli-Venier | Los Angeles | North AmericaEurope | VC/PE Fund | Artie, Faze Clan, Okay Play | |||
NextNews Ventures | news & media tech early stage VC by fmr McClatchy CEO Craig Forman | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Publishing / News | Craig Forman | San Francisco | North America | VC/PE Fund | ||||
New Media Ventures | angel group and micro-VC fund investing in for-profit and non-profit media ventures in the US that advance the values of the US progressive political movement (generally, aligned with the Democratic Party) | Grants/Impact InvestingVC (Seed) | San Francisco | North America | Blavity, Some of Us, Sister District, Vote.org, CrowdTangle, Swing Left, PushBlack | ||||||
Naspers | South African newspaper publisher turned internet and e-commerce investment giant after it led Series A in Tencent, a stake now worth $100B+ | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Cape Town | Global | Corporate Venture | ||||||
MDC Ventures | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Telecom / Communications Infrastructure,Publishing / News,Podcasting,Music Tech / Music Streaming,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Content Rights / Licensing,Augmented & Virtual Reality | Jessica Peltz-Zatulove | New York | GlobalNorth America | $100-250k | Corporate Venture | Catch & Release, Msg.ai, Polymorph | |||
Menlo Ventures | large generalist VC firm; has done some media deals, namely Roku | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Shawn Carolan | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | $5B | Roku | ||||
Maveron | VC firm focused on consumer startups, founded by Dan Levitan and fmr Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz | VC (Series A-B) | Jerry Lu | Seattle,New York | VC/PE Fund | Wave | |||||
Media Ventures GmbH | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Dirk StrΓΆer | Cologne | Europe | Family Office | ||||||
Medici Capital Partners | Growth/pre-IPO investor in consumer tech | VC (Growth) | All things media | Richard Yen | San Francisco | Global | $3-20M | Second Spectrum | |||
Matter.vc | no longer active; accelerator for journalism-related startups | Startup Accelerator | Publishing / News | San Francisco,New York | North America | $50k | NewsDeeply, Purple, NewsWhip | ||||
MDIF - Media Development Investment Fund | debt & equity financing for media in countries where free press is under threat | VC (Seed)Grants/Impact Investing | Publishing / News | Jim Egan | New York,Prague | Global | Foundation | ||||
Modern Times Group investment fund | corp VC, strong esports ties | VC (Series A-B) | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Gaming / Esports | Stockholm | North AmericaEurope | Corporate Venture | $30M | ||||
Marcy Ventures | early stage VC of Jay-Z, Jay Brown and Larry Marcus | VC (Series A-B) | Larry Marcus | New York | VC/PE Fund | $85M | |||||
Makers Fund | new gaming-focused VC | VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Matthew Ball,Jay Chi,Michael Cheung | London,Hong Kong | Global | $1-10M | VC/PE Fund | $180M | Genvid, FaceIT, Bossa Studios, tinyBuild, SuperData, Typhoon Studios, Klang Games, Teacher Gaming | |
Luma Launch | generalist LA seed fund that has some media-related investments | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Social mobile / Social media | Laurent Grill | Los Angeles | $100-250k | Corporate Venture | ||||
MaC Venture Capital | generalist (pre-)seed fund with strong consumer and media background. Talent manager Troy Carter and production company MACRO are strategic LPs. | VC (Seed) | Marlon Nichols,Mike Palank,Adrian Fenty,Charles King | Los Angeles | Global | VC/PE Fund | |||||
London Venture Partners | leading gaming-focused VC | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | David Gardner,David Lau-Kee | London | Europe | $500k-$2.5M | VC/PE Fund | Unity, Bunch, TinyBytes, Klang Games | ||
LINE Ventures | VC arm of LINE (Japanese social/messaging giant), investing in all things tech with particular interest in gaming and interactive media | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports | Hyung Kim | San Francisco,Tokyo | Global | Corporate Venture | Dialpad, Soundhound, Game Closure | |||
Lightspeed Venture Partners | big generalist VC firm with numerous partners interested in media / content / social startups | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Social mobile / Social media | Alex Taussig,Jeremy Liew,Paul Murphy,Amy Wu | San Francisco | Global | $500k-30M | VC/PE Fund | $4B | Snap, Giphy, Mic, Cheddar, HQ | |
Ludus | venture studio incubating & investing in gaming startups in Turkey | Incubation StudioVC (Seed) | Δ°smet GΓΆkΕen | Istanbul | Turkey | VC/PE Fund | JamBox Games | ||||
Luminari Capital | no longer active, now operating as Waverly Capital | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Daniel Leff | San Francisco | |||||||
Liontree Advisors | top media-focused merchant bank that does some startup investments | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Social mobile / Social media,Telecom / Communications Infrastructure,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Publishing / News,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting,Gaming / Esports,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Augmented & Virtual Reality,All things media | Aryeh Bourkoff,James Lindsay,Howard Han | New York,Paris,London | Global | Merchant Banking | ||||
Level Up | Creative Tech VC with a focus on gaming; Seed & Series A | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Thibaud Morin,Guillaume Lautour | Paris | Europe | $600k-5M | VC/PE Fund | $30M | Superscale / Weward / Neopolis / Litgames / Metagames | |
Lightshed Ventures | VC arm of media equity research firm LightShed Partners | VC (Series A-B) | All things media | Rich Greenfield,Jamie Seltzer | New York | ||||||
Lerer Hippeau Ventures | NYC seed fund by HuffPo founders / BuzzFeed anchor investors that invested in lots of digital publishing startups. Generalist fund with lots of consumer deals | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | All things media | Ken Lerer,Eric Hippeau,Ben Lerer,Andrea Hippeau,Julian Moncada,Graham Brown | New York | VC/PE Fund | |||||
LEGO Ventures | corporate VC of LEGO Group, focused on educational/kids media and gaming | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports,Digital Learning / Educational Content | San Francisco,London,Copenhagen | Global | Corporate Venture | Klang Games | ||||
Learn Capital | internationally active VC dedicated to edu/learning startups | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Digital Learning / Educational Content | Michael Staton,Rob Hutter,Greg Mauro | San Francisco | Global | VC/PE Fund | ||||
Lakestar | multi-stage VC in Europe | VC (Growth)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports,Music Tech / Music Streaming | Ben Cousens,Mika Salmi | London,Zurich,Berlin | Europe | VC/PE Fund | Darewise, Amuse, NetSpeak Games, Spotify | |||
Liberty Global Ventures | VC arm of telecom giant Liberty Global, which is based in Denver and owns telecom companies around the world, particularly Europe | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Telecom / Communications Infrastructure,Content Rights / Licensing,Social mobile / Social media | Denver | Global | Corporate Venture | |||||
LDV Capital | VC dedicated to visual tech / computer vision | VC (Seed) | Publishing / News,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Augmented & Virtual Reality | Evan Nisselson | New York | $100k | |||||
Index Ventures | top US-Europe VC firm; generalist but strong track record in consumer, media, & gaming | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Digital Learning / Educational Content,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Gaming / Esports,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Social mobile / Social media,All things media | Guzman Diaz,Dino Becirovic,Danny Rimer | San Francisco,London | Global | $1-60M | VC/PE Fund | $5.4B | King, Supercell, Roblox, Discord, Soundcloud, Patreon, Squarespace, Sonos | |
L2 Ventures | Joe Montana's Seed VC firm | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports | Michael Ma,Mike Miller,Nate Montana,Joe Montana | San Francisco | North America | VC/PE Fund | Mux, Brat, Cloud9 | |||
Intel Capital | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Digital Learning / Educational Content,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands | Christine Herron | San Francisco | $250k-8M | Corporate Venture | |||||
HV Holtzbrinck Ventures GmH | corp VC of German business publishing giant HV Holtzbrink...focuses more on fintech than media but does range of deals | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Martin Weber | Munich | Europe | VC/PE FundCorporate Venture | |||||
Interactive Gaming Ventures | Gaming / Esports | Jack Tretton | |||||||||
Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers | top generalist VC firm...some media-related deals. Lots fo turnover in partners recently so interests may have changed | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | San Francisco | $250k-10M | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
JabCap | family office whose private market investments include a focus on gaming | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Jean-Phillipe Jabre | London,Los Angeles | North AmericaEurope | Family Office | ||||
Konvoy Ventures | gaming infrastructure seed VC | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Josh Chapman,Jason Chapman,Jackson Vaughan | Denver,New York | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Hummingbird Ventures | European seed VC that's strong in mobile gaming | VC (Seed) | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Gaming / Esports | Yousif Al-Dujaili,Firat Ileri | London,Istanbul | Europe | $500k-5M | VC/PE Fund | Peak Games, Gram Games, Loom.AI, Midnite | ||
Griffin Gaming Partners | gaming VC fund, collaboration between Peter Levin and LionTree | VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports | Peter Levin | San Francisco,New York,Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | |||||
GV (fka Google Ventures) | large generalist VC firm, some media-related investments | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | David Krane,MG Siegler | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
GMG Ventures | VC arm of The Scott Trust, the parent foundation of Guardian Media Group. Investing in Seed and Series A startups within focused on "the news, media and entertainment sector." | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Publishing / News,All things media | Denise Xifara | London | Europe | FoundationCorporate Venture | Papercup, Auxuman, Kyra Entertainment, Sensity, RADiCAL | |||
Greycroft Partners | generalist Series A/B VC with consumer bend | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Digital Learning / Educational Content,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Publishing / News,Gaming / Esports,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,All things media | Alan Patricof,Ellie Wheeler,Dana Settle,Ian Sigalow,John Elton,Mark Terbeek | Los Angeles,New York | North AmericaEurope | $1-40M | VC/PE Fund | |||
Guggenheim Digital Media | |||||||||||
German Media Pool | Media-for-Equity | Aljoscha Kaplan,Niko Waesche | Berlin | Europe | Corporate Venture | ||||||
GC Tracker Fund | AR/VR, gaming, & esports fund affiliated with Greycroft Ventures and run by Jon Goldman | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports,Augmented & Virtual Reality | Jon Goldman | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | GameClub, Wave, FanAI, Toonstar, CameraIQ | ||||
Greylock Ventures | large generalist VC firm, had been very active in social media investments but less so now | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | $3.5M | ||||||
Hearst Ventures | corp VC of Hearst | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Kenneth Bronfin,Scott English,Darcy Bentley Frisch,David Famolari,Gil Canaani,Katie Hu,Megumi Ikeda | Corporate Venture | |||||||
Heartcore Capital | fka Sunstone Capital...large European VC firm dedicated to consumer startup investments | VC (Series A-B) | All things media | Levin Bunz,Max Niederhofer,Yacine Ghalim,Christian Jepsen | Copenhagen,Berlin,Paris | Europe | VC/PE Fund | Seriously, Podimo, RFRSH Entertainment | |||
Galaxy Interactive | VC fund affiliated with Galaxy Digital (blockchain-focused merchant bank). Investing in interactive media and fintech startups, primarily at Series A. | VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Richard Kim,Sam Englebardt | New York | North AmericaEurope | VC/PE Fund | ||||
Endeavor / WME Ventures | VC (Seed) | Molly Schmidt | Los Angeles,New York | Corporate Venture | |||||||
Floodgate | generalist seed VC | VC (Seed) | Ryan Walsh | San Francisco | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
Dune Ventures | gaming focused VC firm | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | David Brillembourg Jr. | San Francisco | North AmericaEurope | VC/PE Fund | ||||
G+J Digital Ventures | corporate VC of Bertelsmann-owned publishing giant Gruner + Jung | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Publishing / News,All things media | Beate Koch | Berlin | Europe | $0-4M | Corporate Venture | Pamono, Makerist, Tylco, OnoLabs | ||
Edge Investments | Invests in IP/content companies and in tech for content distribution, engagement, or commercialisation. UK focused. Looks to lead rounds and take board seat in companies with demonstrated product-market fit. | VC (Series A-B) | Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,All things media | Niall Santamaria | London | UK | Β£1-5m | ||||
Endeit Ventures | VC (Growth) | Hubert Deitmers,Martijn Hamann | Hamburg,Amsterdam | Europe | β¬3-8M | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Founders Fund | large generalist VC firm formed by Peter Thiel and Paypal Mafia folks, known for investing in contrarian or off-the-beaten path startups | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | San Francisco | Global | VC/PE Fund | ||||||
EQT Ventures | multi-stage VC fund of European private equity giant EQT | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports,Augmented & Virtual Reality,All things media | Ted Persson,Lars JΓΆrnow | Amsterdam,Berlin,San Francisco,London,Stockholm | EuropeNorth America | β¬1m - β¬75m | VC/PE Fund | β¬1.2bn+ | Small Giant Games, WarDucks, Popcore, Permutive, Varjo | |
Five Four Ventures | spun out of Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels' production company. Investing and incubation media/consumer startups | VC (Series A-B)Incubation Studio | David Birnbaum | ||||||||
Deep Space Ventures | esports VC fund | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Stephen Hays | Dallas | Quarterback | |||||
Courtside Ventures | sports-related VC fund | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Telecom / Communications Infrastructure,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Publishing / News,Gaming / Esports,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands,Augmented & Virtual Reality,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting | Deepen Parikh,Vasu Kulkarni | Detroit,New York | Global | $250K-$1.5M | VC/PE Fund | The Athletic, FanAI, The Drone Racing League, Beam (acq by Microsoft), StockX, LiveLike | ||
Crush Ventures | Talent mgmt firm Crush Management's early stage investing arm focused on "the intersection of pop culture, consumers, and tech-enabled experiences". The firm's clients include Sia, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Lorde, Train, Weezer, & Green Day. | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Andrew Kahn | Los Angeles | |||||||
CRV | large VC firm in Boston and SF with investments in Niantic, Patreon, Kapwing, etc. | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports | Justine Moore,Olivia Moore,Saar Gur | San Francisco,Boston | North America | VC/PE Fund | $4B | Niantic, Patreon, Kapwing, Scribd | ||
Demain Prisma Media | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed)Startup Accelerator | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting,All things media | Hubert Saint Olive | Paris | Europe | $0-500k | Corporate Venture | ||||
Daylight Holdings | VC fund of Hollywood talent mgmt firm | VC (Series A-B) | All things media | Ben Curtis | Los Angeles | ||||||
Curious Capital (Heinen-Verlag) | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Johannes Heinen | Cologne | β¬50-250k | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Disney Accelerator | Startup Accelerator | All things media | Los Angeles | North America | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Creandum | Stockholm-based early stage VC with offices in Berlin and SF, known for seed investment in Spotify | VC (Series A-B) | All things media,Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Gaming / Esports,Digital Learning / Educational Content,Digital Video / Digital Media Brands | Simon Schminke,Staffan Helgesson,Fredrik Cassel | Stockholm,Berlin,San Francisco | Europe | β¬200K - 8M | VC/PE Fund | Spotify, Small Giant Games, Kahoot, Epidemic Sound | ||
CASSIUS Family | US & Europe seed fund focused on consumer brands and content/marketing | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Emmanuel Seuge | Atlanta,Paris,New York | Brat, Wonder, Tribe, Highsnobriety, Indify, | ||||||
Brighteye Ventures | media & edu focused seed fund in Paris | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Digital Learning / Educational Content | Benoit Wirz,Alex Spiro | Paris | Europe | β¬500k-3M | VC/PE Fund | |||
Causeway Media Partners | dedicated sports media fund, led by owner of the Boston Celtics NBA team | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports | Wyc Grousbeck,Bob Higgins,Mark Wan,Jasmine Robinson,Chris Warren | San Francisco,Boston | Global | VC/PE Fund | $345M | |||
CAA Ventures | VC deals by top Hollywood talent agency CAA | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Michael Yanover | Los Angeles,San Francisco | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Cobalt Capital (fka Evolution Media Capital) | media-focused growth VC | VC (Growth) | All things media | Rick Hess,Gautam Shah,Dan Abrams | Los Angeles | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Bryant Stibel | VC firm of Kobe Bryant and Jeff Stibel; unclear if still operating following Bryant's death in 2020. | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports,Gaming / Esports | Jeff Stibel | Los Angeles | North America | VC/PE Fund | ||||
Broadway Video Ventures LLC | no longer active, see Five Four Ventures for new iteration | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | New York | Holding Co | Above Average, ZEFR, Houseparty, Cheddar, Headspace, YouNow, Arsenic, AirTV | ||||||
Compound Ventures | deep focus on interactive media, AI applied to media, virtual characters, animation | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Mike Dempsey | New York | North America | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Brickhouse Ventures | Canadian esports VC fund with US & Mexico offices | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Vancouver | North America | ||||||
Comcast Ventures | corporate VC of telecom giant Comcast, invests broadly not just in media and telecom | VC (Series A-B) | Daniel Gulati,Michael Yang,Sam Landman,Amy Banse | Los Angeles,Philadelphia,New York,San Francisco | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Bettor Capital | early stage VC fund for real money online gaming (i.e. gambling, sports betting, etc.) | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | David VanEgmond | New York | VC/PE Fund | $100m | |||||
Bonnier Ventures | VC arm of Swedish media conglomerate Bonnier | VC (Series A-B) | Stockholm | EuropeNorth America | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Bertelsmann Brazil Investments | South America | Corporate Venture | |||||||||
Bertelsmann India Investments | South Asia | Corporate Venture | |||||||||
BDMI | North American VC arm of Bertelsmann, one of the world's largest media conglomerates | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Urs Cete,Sim Blaustein,Keith Titan | New York | North AmericaEurope | Corporate Venture | |||||
Behold Ventures | seed fund for Nordic gaming startups by ex-DICE execs | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Karl Magnus Troedsson,SigurlΓna IngvarsdΓ³ttir,Magnus Kenneby | Stockholm,ReykjavΓk,MalmΓΆ | Europe | $500k-1m | VC/PE Fund | $25m | ||
Bertelsmann Asia Investments | Asia | Corporate Venture | |||||||||
BITKRAFT Esports Ventures | solely dedicated to esports | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Gaming / Esports | Jens Hilgers | Los Angeles,Berlin | Global | TEO, Runtime, Quarterback | ||||
Bose Ventures | audio/voice focused VC arm of Bose | VC (Series A-B)VC (Seed) | Augmented & Virtual Reality,Music Tech / Music Streaming / Podcasting | Steve Romine | Boston | Corporate Venture | $50M | ||||
betaworks ventures | well-known seed fund and incubation studio, always tinkering with new ideas at forefront of social and online media | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Matt Hartman | New York | North America | VC/PE Fund | |||||
Arrive | VC arm of Roc Nation, the talent management and entertainment company formed by Jay-Z | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Neil Sirni,Stephen Francis | New York | North AmericaSouth Asia | Corporate Venture | Manticore Games, Outlier, Muze, Whisper, | ||||
Axel Springer Plug and Play Accelerator | Startup Accelerator | Berlin | Europe | β¬25,000 | Corporate Venture | ||||||
Andreessen Horowitz | Large generalist VC, track record and stated interest in various types of media startups | VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Gaming / Esports,All things media | Jon Lai,Andrew Chen | San Francisco | North America | VC/PE Fund | $10B | Substack, Descript, BuzzFeed, Genius, Medium, Within, UnitedMasters | ||
Ascension Ventures | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Arthur Sherry,Jean de Fougerolles | London | VC/PE Fund | |||||||
Axel Springer Digital Ventures | VC (Series A-B) | Berlin | Europe | ||||||||
Bauer Venture Partners | corporate VC of German media (magazines) group Bauer Media | VC (Series A-B) | Sven-Olof Reimers | Cologne | Europe | Corporate Venture | β¬100M | ||||
Athletico Ventures | early stage VC firm of Arthur Bernard, with European sports stars as LPs & co-investors | VC (Series A-B) | Sports Media / Fantasy Sports | Arthur Bernard | Paris | Europe | VC/PE Fund | ||||
aXiomatic | gaming and esports focused holding company, backed by many top Hollywood investors; parent company of Team Liquid esports team. | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B)VC (Growth) | Los Angeles | North America | Holding Co | Team Liquid, Niantic, Venn, Epic Games, Dapper Labs | |||||
Backstage Capital | VC (Seed) | Arlan Hamilton | Los Angeles | North America | $50k | VC/PE Fund | $5M | ||||
1UP Ventures | game studio seed fund by former Microsoft VP of game publishing | VC (Seed) | Gaming / Esports | Ed Fries | Seattle | VC/PE Fund | Lightfox Games, Playable Worlds, Elodie Games | ||||
Advancit Capital | Early stage VC focused on all things media, by Jason Ostheimer and Viacom/CBS controlling shareholder Shari Redstone | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Shari Redstone,Jason Ostheimer | New York,Boston | |||||||
AG Ventures | investing arm of Shawn Mendes manager Andrew Gertler's talent management firm (AG Artists). | New York | |||||||||
Afton Ventures | VC affiliate of Red Light Management, one of the largest talent mgmt firms in music | VC (Seed)VC (Series A-B) | Garrett Williams | New York,Charlotte | North America | Corporate VentureFamily Office | |||||
3L Capital | Growth fund by founders of Demand Media. Looks at media-related companies, among other things | VC (Growth) | Shawn Colo,Anton Zietsman,Dave Leyrer | New York,Los Angeles | |||||||
Alven | Seed & Series A firm in Paris | VC (Seed) | François Méteyer | Paris | Europe | VC/PE Fund | Bunch, PandaScore, Yubo, Madbox, Meero | ||||
3311 Ventures | VC arm of production co. Not clear if still active | VC (Seed) | Ross Jacobson | Los Angeles |