• Tastebuds

  Led · Seed · Apr 2013

  Tastebuds is a social network that matches people by their musical tastes using profiles built from favourite bands/artists, Last.fm imports, Facebook music Likes and a Spotify app. The product displays potential matches and shared artists, and surfaces gigs if users link SongKick, enabling online-to-offline connections. It began as a music-focused dating site but has broadened to supporting general meetups and social discovery, claiming roughly 100,000 registered users. The company has been bootstrapped and is a Springboard (now TechStars London) graduate from 2011. Tastebuds has experimented with premium micro-features such as an "Incognito mode" and is considering recurring subscriptions and monetization tied to offline events. Current product roadmaps include mobile apps and features to help people meet at gigs, festivals and music meetups.

• Genesis Media

  Led · Series A · Sep 2012

  Genesis Media builds ContentUnlock, a data-driven decisioning platform that intercepts users with timed, targeted ads (typically video) to unlock publisher content. Publishers deploy ContentUnlock as an alternative to paywalls, requiring ad viewing for continued access with configurable gap periods (for example, seven articles, 24–48 hours, or one week). The product seeks to contextualize ads and vary frequency by reader behavior, showing fewer ads to loyal direct visitors and more aggressive monetization to referral traffic. Genesis counts American Media, Bonnier, USA Today Sports, and The Smithsonian among its publisher partners. The company says its business model is moving toward a platform approach, in some cases providing technology for publishers’ own sales teams rather than selling the ads directly. Financially, Genesis announced a $6 million Series B equity raise and said that including credit the round totaled $10 million. Genesis Media operates a video advertising platform focused on pairing the right video with the right viewer, once described as "the Match.com of video advertising." It was created by the November merger of AdGenesis and TVGenesis. Publishers in its network include Fox, Parade, and Conde Nast. The company says it reaches more than 150 million consumers and that 15 million U.S. users have opted in to its video ad platform. Genesis Media reports a 7 percent clickthrough rate on matched ads, 80 percent completion rates, and roughly 20 times more engagement than traditional video pre-rolls. The startup emphasizes innovative online video advertising tools and targeting to drive advertiser engagement as it scales publisher partnerships.

• Gobbler

  Participated · Equity · Jan 2012

  Gobbler builds a media-focused file management service designed by media creators to back up, transfer and organize high-bandwidth audio, photo and video files. The product emphasizes features useful to individual media creators—such as custom compression and reduced upload times—rather than broad enterprise deployments. CEO Chris Kantrowitz, who also designs sets for large-scale music concerts, says the company focuses on heavy-duty consumers working in home or mobile environments. Gobbler is presently free for file sizes under 5GB, with a to-be-determined monthly fee for larger storage tiers. The company has photo and video versions in development to expand its product line. Financially, Gobbler has raised funding to date and is positioning its product toward millions of potential creators in music, photography and video production cited in contemporary coverage.

• MyCube

  Participated · Equity · May 2011

  MyCube operates a social network platform it calls a Social Exchange™, enabling individuals and organizations to store and share information, updates and content while retaining full privacy, ownership and control. The company plans to use newly raised funds to expand its team and support an imminent beta launch of the social network. MyCube raised $8M in funding to support those plans. It was founded in 2008 by CEO Johan Stael von Holstein and three other individuals. The company is based in Singapore and has over 40 employees across its Singapore offices.

No current team members are available.