Find venture capital investors who focus on media, entertainment, & gaming startups. Below is a list of venture capital firms who have partners actively interested in funding media, entertainment, and/or gaming startups. I compiled this information from their websites, press coverage, and my personal interactions with them. Contact me by email with additions or edits.
It is an interactive Airtable database and best viewed from desktop. See the bottom right corner to enlarge the table. (Here’s a direct link if there are issues with the embedded table.)
Note 1: VC investors focus on startups whose product is software or a combo of software and content (like video games). They do not invest in films, TV shows, or other traditional Hollywood IP projects.
Note 2: I have not been super active in updating this since 2020.
Advancit Capital | Early stage VC focused on all things media, by Jason Ostheimer and Viacom/CBS controlling shareholder Shari Redstone
Afton Ventures | VC affiliate of Red Light Management, one of the largest talent mgmt firms in music
AG Ventures | investing arm of Shawn Mendes manager Andrew Gertler’s talent management firm (AG Artists).
Alven | Seed & Series A firm in Paris
Andreessen Horowitz | Large generalist VC, track record and stated interest in various types of media startups
Apex Capital | Portugal-based VC backed by pro athletes and investing across sports, entertainment, and consumer tech in Europe and US.
Arrive | VC arm of Roc Nation, the talent management and entertainment company formed by Jay-Z
Athletico Ventures | early stage VC firm of Arthur Bernard, with European sports stars as LPs & co-investors
aXiomatic | gaming and esports focused holding company, backed by many top Hollywood investors; parent company of Team Liquid esports team.
Bauer Venture Partners | corporate VC of German media (magazines) group Bauer Media
BDMI | North American VC arm of Bertelsmann, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates
Behold Ventures | seed fund for Nordic gaming startups by ex-DICE execs
betaworks ventures | well-known seed fund and incubation studio, always tinkering with new ideas at forefront of social and online media
Bettor Capital | early stage VC fund for real money online gaming (i.e. gambling, sports betting, etc.)
BITKRAFT | Berlin and LA based firm focused on video game related companies at all stages
Bonnier Ventures | VC arm of Swedish media conglomerate Bonnier
Bose Ventures | audio/voice focused VC arm of Bose
Brickhouse Ventures | Canadian esports VC fund with US & Mexico offices
CASSIUS Family | US & Europe seed fund focused on consumer brands and content/marketing
Causeway Media Partners | dedicated sports media fund, led by owner of the Boston Celtics NBA team
Cobalt Capital (fka Evolution Media Capital) | media-focused growth VC
Connect Ventures | corporate VC arm of talent agency CAA, launched in partnership with large VC firm NEA.
Courtside Ventures | entertainment and sports-related VC fund in NYC
Creandum | Stockholm-based early stage VC with offices in Berlin and SF, known for seed investment in Spotify
Crush Ventures | Talent mgmt firm Crush Management’s early stage investing arm focused on “the intersection of pop culture, consumers, and tech-enabled experiences”.
Dune Ventures | gaming focused VC firm
Five Four Ventures | spun out of Broadway Video, Lorne Michaels’ production company. Investing and incubation media/consumer startups
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
Galaxy Interactive | VC fund affiliated with Galaxy Digital (blockchain-focused merchant bank). Investing in interactive media and fintech startups, primarily at Series A.
GC Tracker Fund | AR/VR, gaming, & esports fund affiliated with Greycroft Ventures and run by Jon Goldman
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.”
Greycroft Partners | generalist Series A/B VC with consumer bend
Greylock Ventures | large generalist VC firm, had been very active in social media investments but less so now
Griffin Gaming Partners | gaming VC fund, collaboration between longtime gaming exec Peter Levin and merchant bank LionTree
Hearst Ventures | corp VC of Hearst
Heartcore Capital | large European VC firm dedicated to consumer startup investments
HV Holtzbrinck Ventures GmH | corp VC of German business publishing giant HV Holtzbrink…focuses more on fintech than media but does range of deals
Index Ventures | top US-Europe VC firm; generalist but strong track record in consumer, media, & gaming
Konvoy Ventures | gaming infrastructure VC based in Denver
Lakestar | multi-stage VC in Europe
LDV Capital | VC dedicated to visual tech / computer vision
Learn Capital | internationally active VC dedicated to edu/learning startups
KIRKBI (fka LEGO Ventures) | VC arm of the family that owns LEGO Group, focused on educational/kids media and gaming
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
Level Up | Creative Tech VC with a focus on gaming in Europe; Seed & Series A
Liberty Global Ventures | VC arm of telecom giant Liberty Global, which is based in Denver and owns telecom companies around the world, particularly Europe
Lightshed Ventures | VC arm of media equity research firm LightShed Partners in NYC
Lightspeed Venture Partners | big generalist VC firm with numerous partners interested in media / content / social startups
LINE Ventures | VC arm of LINE (Japanese social/messaging giant), investing in all things tech with particular interest in gaming and interactive media
LionTree | top media-focused merchant bank that advises companies on M&A and also makes some VC investments (mostly at growth stage)
London Venture Partners | leading gaming-focused VC
Ludus | venture studio incubating & investing in gaming startups in Turkey
MaC Venture Capital | generalist (pre-)seed fund with strong consumer and media background.
Makers Fund | gaming-focused VC
Marcy Ventures | early stage VC of Jay-Z, Jay Brown and Larry Marcus
MDIF – Media Development Investment Fund | debt & equity financing for media in countries where free press is under threat
Modern Times Group | publicly traded esports & entertainment group based in Stockholm that makes VC investments (in gaming)
MUSIC | music-focused VC/PE firm formed by music exec Matt Pincus and merchant bank LionTree, investing at growth stage.
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 (i.e. aligned with the Democratic Party)
NFX | VC firm focused on startups with network effects (“NFX”)…very strong on gaming and interactive media. SF & Tel Aviv.
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.
North Base Media | VC for news publishing startups globally
NTT Docomo Ventures | VC arm of NTT DOCOMO, Inc., investing in tech with a particular interest in communications and content platforms.
Omidyar Network | impact investing group of ebay founder Pierre Omidyar…funds media related to promotion of democracy / strong journalism
Play Ventures | focused on gaming startups globally (ex. US) with offices in Helsinki and Singapore
Plus8 Equity Partners | music-focused VC firm
Progression Fund | consumer internet / digital media seed VC
Raine Group | a top media/entertainment industry merchant bank, with PE fund, VC fund, and hedge fund.
Raised in Space | music-tech focused VC firm affiliated with Scooter Braun and Ripple
Reach Capital | education focused VC, will look at educational media deals
Remagine Ventures | media-focused VC with top European media conglomerates as Limited Partners, focused on startups in Israel and UK
Sapphire Sport | dedicated sports media fund by Sapphire Ventures
Schibsted Growth | corp VC of Norwegian media conglomerate Schibsted
Sequoia Capital | often considered top VC firm in world, has done some big media-related deals like YouTube and Unity but is generalist
Serena Capital | focused mainly on French startups; manages the V13 fund for entertainment startups on behalf of French lottery FDJ
Serena Ventures | VC fund of tennis icon Serena Williams
Seven Ventures | affiliate of German media giant ProSiebenSat.1
Sinai Ventures | VC Series A/B focused VC, strong consumer focus with many media-related deals. Also has a film financing fund called New Slate Ventures.
Sisu Game Ventures | dedicated gaming VC focused on Nordics/Europe
Skycatcher | hedge fund making growth VC and seed VC investments in gaming and in emerging markets consumer mobile.
Smash Ventures | growth stage VC from ex-Disney executives who are big investors in Epic Games
Spark Capital | large generalist VC firm, perhaps most famous for being one of the main early investors in Twitter
SPH Media Fund | corp VC of Singapore Media Holdings
Spintop Ventures | seed stage VC in Nordics
Stardom Ventures | focused on Israeli startups in video tech, content, adtech, marketing, & commerce categories, backed by media companies Keshet and Dick Clark Productions
Strand Venture Partners | Late-seed & Series A/B investor focused on sports & entertainment, food & beverage, and real estate related startups
Supercell Ventures | corp VC arm of mobile games giant Supercell
Supernode Global | media-focused VC firm led by Michael Sackler in London
Sweet Capital | consumer mobile focused seed VC funded by founders of King games…focused on gaming-related and interactive media startups but doesn’t invest in game studios.
TCG Capital (fka The Chernin Group) | led by Peter Chernin. Acquiring, incubating, and investing in consumer companies. VC investments are growth stage.
Transcend Fund | an early stage gaming VC
Upfront Ventures | large VC firm in LA, generalist with some media related deals. Kevin Zhang leads focus on gaming and interactive media.
VGames | early stage VC focused on game studios in Israel & Eastern Europe
VGC Partners | London-based consumer & media VC/PE firm
Watertower Group | investment bank and seed fund focused on entertainment and consumer startups
Waverly Capital | VC firm focused on media (the new incarnation of Daniel Leff’s Luminari Capital)
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
Women Nation Fund (by Live Nation) | Live Nation’s fund for female entrepreneurs focused on live entertainment