Participated · Series A · Feb 2022

Canela Media operates AVOD streaming platform Canela.TV and music service Canela Music, both focused on culturally relevant Spanish-language and Latino-oriented content. Canela.TV launched in 2020 and is approaching 10 million downloads; Canela Music launched in 2021. The company reports reaching over 50 million users across its OTT products and 180+ Spanish-language sites. Canela Media plans to use new funding to accelerate product development, produce original programming for Canela.TV and Canela Music, and expand further into Latin America. Later in the year the company intends to roll out a Canela Kids app focused on children's programming and add 95 new positions across engineering, operations and programming. Headquartered in New York, Canela Media is minority- and female-owned and is noted in the article as among the most-funded Latino- and female-led companies in the media industry. Canela Media is a NYC-based, Latina-owned digital media tech company led by founder and CEO Isabel Rafferty that offers brands a complete ecosystem to connect with multicultural audiences. Its core product is Canela.TV, a recently launched free streaming service providing on-demand Latino-focused movies and TV across multiple platforms. The company also reaches more than 20 million unique Hispanics via its 180+ premium Spanish-language sites and influencer database. Combined with proprietary data, Canela Media aims to create culturally relevant connections with U.S. Hispanic audiences. The new capital will be used to drive continued growth of Canela.TV and expand the company’s audience and platform offerings.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2021

Boom Entertainment builds and operates premium sports gaming apps and white‑label products for media and sports partners. Its products include NBC Sports Predictor, Tim Hortons NHL Hockey Challenge, PlayBarstool, NASCAR Jackpot Races, MSGN Pick’em, YES Pick N’ Play, and Chirp Golf. Led by co-founder and CEO Stephen A. Murphy, the company says its products have been played by nearly 3 million users. Boom’s platform is designed to drive mobile engagement, user acquisition, funnel management, and online gaming revenue for partners. Partners include media companies, sports leagues, retail companies, and sportsbook and casino companies. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate expansion into real-money gaming products.

Participated · Series C · Feb 2021

Jackpocket’s core product is a mobile-first lottery ticket ordering service that purchases physical tickets on users’ behalf, provides watermarked scanned images, and enforces age and location compliance via GPS and ID checks. The app has 2.5 million active users and currently operates in 10 U.S. states, with active-user growth up 300% in the past eight months. Its business model charges a 9% fee on customer deposits (no fee on winnings used to play and no withdrawal fee). The company emphasizes responsible gaming with spending monitoring and an initial $100-per-day cap. Jackpocket plans to use new funding to expand beyond lottery ticket sales into broader mobile gaming (raffles, sweepstakes, bingo, social casino games), invest in technology and best practices from e-commerce, subscriptions, and mobile wallets, and expand into additional states and partnerships. It operates out of New York with an operation in Santa Barbara, CA, where CEO Peter Sullivan is based. Jackpocket is a NYC-based licensed third-party app that provides a secure way to order official state lottery tickets. Led by CEO and founder Peter Sullivan, the app enables users to automatically order official state lottery tickets through the company's licensed service. It is currently available in Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and Washington, D.C. The company closed a $50M Series C round to support growth. Jackpocket intends to use the funds to grow its user base as it launches in new jurisdictions and to expand the team. The company is expanding to many new markets. Jackpocket is a mobile-first third-party app that enables players to order official state lottery tickets such as Powerball and Mega Millions and to manage plays through features like lottery pools, autoplay, and result checking. The company emphasizes security, including automatically locking a player’s identity to a ticket serial number. Jackpocket is available in Minnesota, New Hampshire and Texas and said it is expanding to many new markets in 2019. Since its Series B announcement the company reports it has tripled ticket sales and grown its player base by over 150% in six months, and it has awarded $1 million in player prizes in 2019 to date. The platform is positioned as a no-cost, no-integration turnkey solution for lotteries to drive incremental revenue and attract new customers such as millennials. Leadership includes founder and CEO Peter Sullivan, with recent senior advisors Gavin Isaacs and Paul Palmieri. Jackpocket is the first third-party mobile app in the U.S. that enables users to order official state lottery tickets (Powerball, Mega Millions and state games) and check results. Its core product includes a proprietary ticket-scanning and processing technology that uses machine learning, a Pools feature for group plays, and autoplay functionality. The app enforces responsible-play measures such as a $100 daily limit per user and in-app access to the National Council on Problem Gambling. Jackpocket is available in New Hampshire and Minnesota and was recently inducted as an Associate Member of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. The company says its platform is a no-cost, no-integration turnkey solution that helps lotteries drive incremental revenue and attract new players. Management plans to use new capital to expand the service into additional jurisdictions.

Participated · Series C · Jan 2017

Whistle Sports creates, curates and distributes sports-focused entertainment content across its own distribution platforms and OTT partners. Launched in 2014 by CEO John West, the company targets young, post-Millennial viewers and is described as the leader in the sports lifestyle segment globally. It maintains a library of over 560,000 videos and partners with creators and brands such as Dude Perfect, DevinSuperTramp and The F2. The company plans to use new funding to expand its catalog of free and premium original content with brand partners and creators. The collaboration with its new lead investor will also support partnerships with subsidiaries like ELEVEN SPORTS and accelerate international expansion. Whistle Sports creates, curates and delivers sports content for fans and brands across multiple social, digital and TV platforms. Led by CEO John West, the company partners with the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Verizon go90 and Sinclair Broadcast Group. Since its formal launch in 2014, Whistle has built a global community encompassing over 170 million aggregate subscribers, fans and followers. The company is launching “Unseen Hours,” a behind-the-scenes look at the training regimes of up-and-coming professional basketball players. In January 2017 Whistle raised $27.5M in a Series C round from backers including Beringea, Tegna, NBC Sports Ventures, Sky and Emil Capital. It intends to use the funds to accelerate revenue growth while maintaining rapid expansion of its user base and operates offices in New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and London. Whistle Sports produces and publishes a range of sports-focused videos on YouTube and other social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine) aimed at young people. It monetizes via branded content and advertising sold to sponsors, and its advertising and branded-content revenue doubled every quarter last year. The company focuses on U.S. sports while rapidly expanding efforts into globally popular sports, especially soccer. Whistle has studio space in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and London and a global headcount of around 50 employees, with staff projected to double over the next nine months. Management has opened a European office in London, is weighing a base in Latin America, and plans expansion to Asia later. CEO John West expects the company to become profitable in 2016 and is hiring an internal sales team to drive revenue. Whistle Sports is a US-based YouTube-certified broadcaster and multi-platform sports video network targeting young people and young millennials. It operates more than 195 channels and a library of over 28,700 videos that have generated more than 1.2 billion views. The network features content from athletes and creators such as Jeremy Lin, Brodie Smith, and Dude Perfect, and holds partnerships with the NFL, PGA Tour, MLB, MLS and other US sports leagues. Whistle maintains a cross-platform presence with 8 million YouTube subscribers, 9.3 million Facebook fans, 1.3 million Twitter followers, 2.5 million Instagram followers and 2.2 million Vine followers, and offers an Xbox 360 app with Xbox One and Roku support in the pipeline. Its product is social-first sports video distributed across multiple networks and apps to reach younger audiences.

Participated · Series D · Jun 2016

Founded in 2007 by CEO Michael Wayne and based in Santa Monica, California, Kin Community is a digital media company that produces home-focused video content and manages a creator network. Kin Studios creates video content in food, home, and DIY categories, while the Kin Community multi-platform network features more than 120 lifestyle content creators including Rosanna Pansino, Hannah Hart, Jenn Im, Lauren Riihimaki and Rachel and Byron Talbott. The company has more than 170 million social followers and generates more than 600 million video views monthly. Kin Community raised $13.5m in a Series D financing and intends to use the proceeds to increase original content production and distribution across social, OTT and traditional media platforms. It also plans to continue global expansion into new markets including Australia and the UK and to invest in global sales, marketing and partner-management infrastructure. KIN operates KIN Community, a premium lifestyle network and creator platform producing female-focused video content across food, health, beauty, parenting, home and entertainment verticals. The company incubates online video talent, produces custom branded content and original programming including Emmy-winning series. KIN says its network attracts more than 25 million unique viewers each month, has over 4 billion lifetime video views and has drawn more than 20 million network subscribers since 2011. The company plans to use new funding to expand talent acquisition and support, grow its advertising sales team, develop original programming and pursue new business development opportunities. As part of its growth, KIN will partner with Corus to launch KIN Canada, leveraging Corus’s platforms to bring KIN’s creators and advertising opportunities to the Canadian market. KIN’s offerings include direct brand integrations and custom content programs for advertisers.