500 Global is a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.4 billion in assets under management. The firm invests in founders who are building fast-growing technology companies. It focuses on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can generate long-term value and economic growth. 500 Global collaborates with key stakeholders and provides advisory services to governments on fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems to support startups. The firm has invested in over 5,000 founders and more than 2,800 companies across 80+ countries. It has funded over 35 companies valued at more than $1 billion and over 160 companies valued at over $100 million, including those that are private, public, or have exited. The team consists of over 190 members based in more than 25 countries, with experience as entrepreneurs, investors, and operators from leading technology companies.

500 Global

Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm with a powerful network in Asia. From our base in Silicon Valley, they seek to invest in entrepreneurs who are innovating in a variety of sectors. They are uniquely positioned to help portfolio companies looking to expand internationally accelerate their growth in Asia. Scrum Ventures typically invests between $100,000 to $1 million. Scrum Ventures recently launched Scrum Studios that include innovative corporations such as Panasonic, Nintendo, and Dentsu.

Scrum Ventures

Three Six Zero is an international management and entertainment company at the forefront of music, film, television and digital content.  With offices in Los Angeles, London and now Tokyo after its recent acquisition of Westbrook Entertainment, Three Six Zero manages world class talent including heavy hitters Calvin Harris, Will Smith, Tiësto, and Shameik Moore among other notable clients.

Three Six Zero

Rubicon Venture Capital (Rubicon) is a Late Seed / Series A VC fund with a unique global community of value added investors to build lasting technology companies. Their investors are mainly successful entrepreneurs and executives located in key cities around the world. Rubicon invests in enterprise Saas, Fintech, hospitality tech, logistics, insuretech, PropTech, AI/ML and direct to consumer companies. Typically companies will have achieved at least $1m in ARR. We invest in Later Stage Seed and Series A & B venture capital financing rounds of high potential early stage disruptive technology companies.

Rubicon Venture Capital

Sterling.VC is an early stage fund focused on web3 gaming

Sterling.VC

StartX is a 501(c)(3) Stanford-affiliated nonprofit in Silicon Valley that runs one of the world’s top startup accelerator programs. Its mission is to advance the development of the best entrepreneurs through experiential education and peer learning. Since launching in 2010, it has supported more than 450 companies and 1000 entrepreneurs, from early to pre-IPO stage, working across a wide spectrum of industries.    StartX and StartX Med, dedicated to medical and biotechnology innovation, provide founders with access to a powerful network of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and industry partners, along with office space and a variety of other resources. Based in Palo Alto, the accelerator also operates StartX-QB3 Labs and the Stanford-StartX Fund. We are funded by Stanford University, Stanford Health Care, Microsoft, Steelcase, Hyundai, Oriza Ventures, Nissan, Panasonic, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Analog Devices, Silicon Valley Bank, Greylock Partners, Sequoia Capital, and many others. For more information, visit startx.com The company is associated investment vehicle, the Stanford-StartX Fund is a partnership between StartX, Stanford University and Stanford Health Care.  It can invest only in StartX companies who raise qualified rounds of venture capital using objective criteria; it is founder opt-in.

StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund)

SeventySix Capital is a sports tech venture capital company led by Wayne Kimmel, Jon Powell and MLB superstar, Ryan Howard. The fund invests in passionate, smart and nice entrepreneurs who are launching game-changing tech startups in the sports, health and retail industries. SeventySix Capital is building the go-to venture capital platform for executives, influencers, and professional athletes, offering unique opportunities for them to invest in sports tech startups, and for entrepreneurs to access the financial and social capital that they have to offer. SeventySix Capital’s Athlete Venture Group allows players to invest, learn, and work directly with top sports tech startups and entrepreneurs. The firm aims to bridge the gap between athletes, entrepreneurs, and investors by creating opportunities for athletes to become tech investors and for entrepreneurs to access the financial and social capital that professional athletes have to offer. Athlete Venture Group members, including Ryan Howard, DeMarco Murray, Ralph Sampson and Brian Westbrook, work hands-on with SeventySix Capital's portfolio companies in esports, sports betting, data collection, data analytics, media and more. Additionally, SeventySix Capital has a strategic partnership with Rubicon Talent, a sports marketing and talent agency based in New York City with a wide range of clients including NFL and NBA stars, Hall of Famers, MVPs, Heisman Trophy winners, Olympic icons, media personalities, and celebrity chefs. Kimmel founded the firm in 1999 with top exits to Fortune 500 companies including Aramark, Intel, IBM, Walgreens, and Yahoo. Powell is also the CEO of Kravco Company LLC, a leading real estate company that developed over 30 million square feet of commercial space including the King of Prussia Mall. Howard, a World Series Champion and 2006 NL MVP, is known as one of the all-time great home run hitters.

SeventySix Capital

NetEase internet technology company dedicated to providing premium online services centered around content, community, communication and commerce.  NetEase develops and operates some of the most popular PC-client and mobile games. Also, we operate Yanxuan, an e-commerce platform that caters to the rising middle-class consumer markets well as offering advertising, e-mail and other innovative services including music and online education.

NetEase

Sony Music is a United States music corporation owned and operated by Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation. It is a global music company with a roster of current artists that includes both local and international superstars, as well as a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history.

Sony Music Entertainment

Stadia Ventures is a sports- and esports-focused venture firm with a sports business accelerator. We’re based out of St. Louis, and we expanded our operations to Frisco/Dallas last year.  Twice a year, we search for 4-6 of the best sports/esports startups in the world; invest $100K into each; drop the founders into a 7-session/14-week business development bootcamp; surround the founders with rockstar business mentors; and introduce them to as many potential clients in our network as physically possible.  In four years, we're entering our 10th cohort; we have 40 companies in our portfolio; and we already have 5 exits (INFCLR from Fall 2018 to Teamworks; Rival.ai from Fall 2018 to Wondr Gaming; Upgraded from Spring 2017 to Ticketmaster; Fishidy from Fall 2015 to FLIR Systems; Winning Identity from Fall 2015 to Blast Motion). And, our portfolio companies have gone on to raise over $53M.

Stadia Ventures

Transcend Fund is a venture firm founded by game industry veterans who have spent decades building digital entertainment firms. The company works on some of the industry's largest franchises and with some of the world's most innovative developers and ambitious creators.

Transcend Fund

Acronym Venture Capital invests into unconventional funding rounds in NYC and Rising Markets with a preference for first time and diverse founders. We are an opportunistic fund investing into Late Seed and Series A rounds of Enterprise SaaS and Omni-channel consumer brands that have achieved at least $1m in ARR. We are a value-add fund and invest only when we can leverage our network to assist with revenue generating relationships, recruiting talent, partnership introductions, follow on capital etc. for our portfolio companies. Please note that we do not invest in companies that touch MUSH = Municipality, Utilities, Schools or Hospitals.

Acronym Venture Capital

The Strand Partners operates as a private investment group.

The Strand Partners

Maestro Interactive Inc

Maestro provides a white-label platform for enterprise live streamers to own, engage, and monetize their audiences. We focus on engagement tools that drive actions at key moments while capturing user data to be used in analytics and marketing campaigns. Customers include Microsoft, PlayStation, E3, ESL, Capcom, WB Games, ELEAGUE, and more.

<div>Maestro is a livestreaming platform that allows content creators to manage interactive streams with viewers. The platform’s main customer segment is the gaming market with clients including Fortnite, Activision, Electronic Arts, and Epic Games. In addition, the company has expanded into alternate verticals such as music and sports.</div>

A foundational component to the next generation of digital entertainment.

Esports

<div>Maestro provides a white-label interactive livestreaming platform for various content creators, influencers, artists, fitness and athletics experts, food streamers, podcasters, independent educators, and enterprises. The platform enables users to generate revenue through interactive streaming, including subscription services, ticketed events, fan clubs, live shopping, and more. All video management tools are available on a single platform, allowing for engaging live and on-demand video experiences with brandable pages, analytics, and community databases. The platform also allows for interactive live selling where creators can sell products, services, or NFTs without leaving their stream through a Shopify integration. Maestro also provides tools to produce professional live streams, including an earnings dashboard that tracks revenue streams, viewership data, and the success of each revenue stream. Maestro provides filters to distinguish between subscribers, event attendees, one-time ticket buyers, and other profiles, allowing users to create segments and export lists to market directly to those users with their preferred email service. Users can also create sponsored channels with co-branded content and use overlays to promote products and services.</div>

Giving creators the power of content monetization and audience engagement.

Creator Economy

Maestro

<div>
 
 Maestro is a livestreaming platform that allows content creators to manage interactive streams with viewers. The platform’s main customer segment is the gaming market with clients including Fortnite, Activision, Electronic Arts, and Epic Games. In addition, the company has expanded into alternate verticals such as music and sports.
 
 
 The company’s Series A round has been open since December 2019 and its last funding round dates back to September 2017.
 
 
 In 2020, the company more than tripled revenue, increased headcount 5x, and paid around USD 5 million to creators on its service. Maestro’s customers include Epic Games, Microsoft, ViacomCBS, Shopify, Universal Music Group, Adweek and Wave, and Billie Eilish.
 
 
 In March 2021, the company raised USD 15 million in a Series B funding round from existing investors SeventySix Capital, The Strand Partners, Stadia Ventures, and Hersh Interactive Group as well as individual investors such as Kevin Lin (co-founder, Twitch) and Michael and Amy Morhaime (co-founders, Dreamhaven and former executives, Blizzard). The fresh capital will be funnelled toward product development and customer diversification. 
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

Stakester is a platform for gamers to compete against one another for cash prizes. The platform was launched in May 2020 and is currently available in 38 US states, the UK, and Singapore. As of November 2020, the platform has more than 15,000 users. Stakester has also established partnerships with ESL (Electronic Sports League) and GameByte (competitive gaming community).Stakester’s management includes Gary J. Foreman (co-founder of Rockstar Games) and Alan Patmore (former EVP and GM at Humble Bundle, GM of Mafia Wars and CityVille at Zynga), who joined as a strategic advisor and board member in June 2020.In November 2020, the company raised USD 2.7 million in seed funding led by RTP Global with participation from angel investors Jens Lapinski (CEO of Angel Invest and former MD of Techstars) and Chris Adelsbach (founding partner at Outrun Ventures and venture partner at Techstars). The funds will be used to grow its community by increasing the value of prizes on the platform. In addition, the company plans to expand its platform to Australia and Germany in the near future.

Stakester

Peru-based ESGPlay operates an esports platform that creates competitive esports tournaments.

ESGPlay

eMasters is a Brazilian esports platform that facilitates the creation of esports competitions with cash prizes. The platform supports games including League of Legends, Dota 2, and FIFA 19.

eMasters

Gaming Frog is a console based online esports tournament platform. The platform offers single player and multiplayer competitive matchups for cash prizes in FIFA.The platform officially launched in August 2019 and since has seen over 1,500 matches being played on the platform.Since launch, the platform claims to have attracted 3,500 users. The company has raised USD 150,000 from friends and family and is in the process of raising a USD 400,000 seed round. The company outlined plans to launch on Android, expand its development team, integrate artificial intelligence (AI), introduce a membership model and bring in NBA and Madden games into the platform.

Gaming Frog

NAG Studios is a Swedish startup focused on creating esports games and platforms. It was founded by esports and gaming industry veterans Peter Stahl (former head of development at Resolution Games, a game studio focused on augmented and virtual reality) and Johan Skott (former esports product owner at Tobii Tech, a unit of technology company Tobii AB). NAG’s vision entails building an esports game and platform which will incorporate the community (i.e., professional players, streamers, broadcasters, and viewers) from the beginning of the development process.The company raised USD 1 million in an extended pre-seed funding round led by London Venture Partners in October 2020. The company aims to use the funds to build its development team.

NAG Studios

Companies facilitating communication among esports players or between players and esports communities during gameplay.

Companies operating esports arenas and providing technical expertise for hosting and broadcasting competitive leagues and tournaments. 

Companies facilitating competitive online and in-person esports tournaments.

Companies producing and broadcasting esports related content.

Companies recruiting players to form professional teams and rosters for esports tournaments and leagues.

Companies developing esports related titles.

Commonly used in the tournament platforms segment to match players of equal skill

<div>
 
 Maestro provides a white-label interactive livestreaming platform for various content creators, influencers, artists, fitness and athletics experts, food streamers, podcasters, independent educators, and enterprises. The platform enables users to generate revenue through interactive streaming, including subscription services, ticketed events, fan clubs, live shopping, and more. All video management tools are available on a single platform, allowing for engaging live and on-demand video experiences with brandable pages, analytics, and community databases. The platform also allows for interactive live selling where creators can sell products, services, or NFTs without leaving their stream through a Shopify integration. Maestro also provides tools to produce professional live streams, including an earnings dashboard that tracks revenue streams, viewership data, and the success of each revenue stream. Maestro provides filters to distinguish between subscribers, event attendees, one-time ticket buyers, and other profiles, allowing users to create segments and export lists to market directly to those users with their preferred email service. Users can also create sponsored channels with co-branded content and use overlays to promote products and services.
 
 
 Further, the company provides video management tools for both live and on-demand video experiences through the Maestro Studio, an all-in-one streaming workflow that allows creators to produce professional-looking live streams from their browsers. This includes multiple stream layouts and distribution capabilities for streaming on multiple platforms at once.
 
 
 Maestro offers freemium plans, with paid plans ranging from USD 99 to USD 2,499 per month, alongside custom pricing for enterprises.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Prominent customers who have hosted conferences/events on the platform include Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, EA, Epic Games, and Ubisoft. Key music artists on the platform include Billie Elish and Twenty One Pilots.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company reported that its revenue increased 3x in 2020 and its headcount grew 5x over September 2020&ndash;February 2021. Maestro also reported that it paid out at least USD 5 million to creators since May 2020, when it launched its monetization tools.&nbsp;
 
</div>

Patreon provides a platform for creators to offer numerous types of content (videos, text, podcasts, images, etc.) for which fans can subscribe to a monthly membership without any ads or algorithms. Patrons (Patreon subscribers) can pay monthly or per post for content access, in addition to the pay-what-you-want option. Creators are paid monthly or for every new post uploaded. They can offer rewards for different tiers, including meeting patrons or custom work upon the patron’s request. Creators are offered three packages: Lite, Pro, and Premium. Lite offeirs basic creator tools for a membership business with no tiers for fans; Pro offers additional tools and perks (e.g., workshops) with unlimited membership tiers; Premium caters to established companies with a large following, earning a monthly income of USD 5,000 or more, offering Pro services in addition to advanced features and Dedicated Partner Manager services. Creators can start for free and are charged a monthly commission based on their plan when they start earning: 5% (Lite), 8% (Pro), and 12% (Premium), as well as payment processing fees.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36100">November 2024,</a> Patreon introduced new features allowing creators and fans to gift memberships and offer subscription discounts.The company revealed in November 2021 that it is building a video hosting platform with a native player to eliminate the reliance of third-party video hosting platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo for creators to share video content with their patrons.Memberful, a Patreon-owned membership software platform for independent creators, launched a newsletter feature in October 2021, allowing creators to send news emails to their subscribers. In the future, creators will be able to make posts publicly viewable and schedule and send targeted emails to specific groups of subscribers. Notably, Memberful’s paid plans (charged monthly) retain 4.9% of creator revenue, while competitor Substack retains 10%.Patreon acquired tech recruiting firm, Clear Talent, in August 2021 to scale up talent and build its engineering, product, and design team..Key Customers and partnershipsThe company has partnered with third-party services, including Vimeo (to host videos) and Discord (for community chats).&nbsp;As of August 2022, Patreon had more than 250,000 creators, over 8.5 million active subscribers, and had paid out more than USD 3.5 billion to creators.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Patreon

<div>
 
 Substack offers a publishing platform that encompasses design, analytics, and payment infrastructure to assist newsletter subscriptions. The platform enables writers to focus on content creation and monetization via subscriptions. Writers can build their own paid newsletter subscription businesses and may choose to start with free newsletters for lead generation. Newsletters can be published to the web in addition to individual email addresses and its mobile app.&nbsp; The platform has a dedicated discovery section ranking the top newsletters, which are then promoted based on &ldquo;internet points&rdquo;. The platform supports podcasting by allowing writers to embed MP3s into their newsletters.
 
 
 The company launched multiple product improvements over the years, including video creation and editing features (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24569">
 November 2023,
 </a>
 the capacity to publish video podcasts, create interactive AI-generated transcripts, and customize shareable video clips
 ), AI-powered audio transcription tools (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21412">
 August 2023,
 </a>
 featuring transcript generation and audiogram creation capabilities), Private Substacks (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15987">
 January 2023,
 </a>
 where readers can request to subscribe to read users posts) Substack Grow (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4243">
 August 2021
 </a>
 , to help writers add paying subscribers in), Substack Local (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3163">
 April 2021
 </a>
 , an initiative to support the local news ecosystem), Substack Pro (to offer advance payments for certain writers), Substack Defender (July 2020, to offer legal support to writers in).&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 Writers have to bring in their own readers, and once they start earning (at a minimum of USD 3 per month), a commission of 10% (plus the Stripe payment processing fee) will be charged on the writer&rsquo;s income. Additionally, Substack stated that it has no plans to include advertisements as an additional revenue stream within the platform. By July 2021, the company reported its top 10 publishers bring in more than USD 20 million per year in combined subscription revenue. Moreover, the company has attracted famous journalists such as Andrew Sullivan, Casey Newton, and Edith Zimmerman. Substack had more than 500,000 paid subscribers as of March 2021.&nbsp;
 
 
 Other notable events include the acquisition of subscription-based social networking app Cocoon in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5113">
 August 2021
 </a>
 , the acquisition of Australian public correspondence startup Letter in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4601">
 July 2021
 </a>
 and the funding of podcast network Booksmart Studio&rsquo;s launch in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4390">
 July 2021
 </a>
 .
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s most recent funding round was Series B funding worth USD 65 million in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3156">
 March 2021
 </a>
 . The round was led by return investor Andreessen Horowitz, valuing Substack at approximately USD 650 million. The funds are to be utilized to rapidly expand the Substack Pro program alongside the implementation of other features.&nbsp;
 
 
 Substack reported a net loss of USD 22.9 million in 2021, having grown from a net loss of USD 2.3 million in 2020.
 
</div>

Substack

<div>
 
 Cameo offers a platform where creators, such as influencers, celebrities, athletes, artists, and musicians, can provide personalized videos and shout-outs to fans as per their request, charging for each video from USD 5 to as high as USD 2,500. Creators who have a minimum of 20,000 Instagram followers are automatically admitted onto the platform, where they set their own price and can choose to accept a fan request or not within seven days. The creator must fulfill the request within a week, which the fan can download and share. Additionally, Cameo provides a messaging option for less expensive creator/fan interactions. Cameo takes a 25% commission on each transaction on the platform.
 
 
 As of September 2020, Cameo had more than 30,000 creators across multiple industries. Cameo reported that it generated around USD 100 million in video transactions in 2020, with more than 2 million video messages being shared on its platform since launch, of which 80% were gifts for others. Furthermore, the company reported its creators and fans are based in 138 and 178 countries, respectively, with almost 20% of Cameos being purchased from outside of the US as of March 2021. For example, Cameo entered into a commercial partnership (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8576">
 February 2022
 </a>
 ) with Softbank, an existing investor of Cameo, to add more Japanese creators and expand its platform in Japan as a culturally fluent localized version.
 
 
 Cameo acquired marketing and merch company Represent (October 2021) whose clients include Jennifer Lopez, Ed Sheeran, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matthew McConaughey, among others. The acquiring company will onboard the Represent team as well as Represent&rsquo;s existing client relationships. In the near term, Cameo plans to allow fans to purchase &ldquo;gift bundles&rdquo; that pair a Cameo video with related merchandise from the creator. The company hopes to introduce new forms of creator-fan engagement, establish new creator revenue opportunities, and offer non-profit organizations a new way to raise funds.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s most recent funding round was Series C funding worth USD 100 million in March 2021, which valued the company at over USD 1 billion, achieving unicorn status. The funds are to be utilized to enhance the Core Cameo experience and capabilities, create new creator-fan engagement products (including Fan Clubs and Cameo Calls), and develop Cameo's B2B business. The company also plans to continue its international expansion.
 
</div>

Cameo

<div>
 
 Buttondown offers a publishing platform for writers to create and distribute newsletters on a subscription basis (price set by the writer) or for free. The platform does not charge writers until they reach 1,000 subscribers, after which they are charged a monthly fee of USD 5 per thousand subscribers. Buttondown also offers advanced features for professionals at a monthly fee of USD 29. Writers can send multiple separate newsletters from the same account, catering to different audiences by maintaining separate mailing lists.
 
 
 The platform also provides writers with user-specific analytics and insights, including features such as side-by-side comparisons of multiple emails. Buttondown has integrated with numerous third-party providers, Ghost and Medium (blogging platforms), Squarespace and Weebly (website building and hosting service providers), and web application integrator, Zapier.  As of December 2020, the company is run entirely by the CEO and founder, Justin Duke, and reported to have a monthly cost base of around USD 1,100. Furthermore, the CEO has made a commitment to donate at least 10% of profits to the software that enables it.
 
</div>

Buttondown

<div>
 
 Disciple Media, headquartered in the UK, offers bespoke community media apps for creators to privately share and own their content while having control, especially regarding monetization. Creators can use the platform to promote their brand, increase reach and engagement with fans, and monetize by charging fans a monthly subscription for access in addition to in-app purchases, sponsorship, and advertising. The company claims that the app-creating process had been reduced to 10 minutes since 2017.
 
 
 The company reported 200% revenue growth and recurring revenue growth of 160% in 2020. As of July 2021, the platform has reached over 500 global communities (up from 200 in May 2020) with 2 million members using the platform. The company claims that the growth of recurring revenue by more than 850% in 2019 was driven by monthly growth of 15% in new communities and 20% in members.
 
 
 Disciple Media raised USD 6 million in a Series A funding round in July 2021, led by previous investors including Nick Mason (Pink Floyd drummer) and Rob Pierre (founder and CEO of Jellyfish), among others. In addition to the company&rsquo;s fundraising, Eirik Svendsen&mdash;an expert in online marketplaces, SaaS, and the publishing and media industry&mdash;has come on as Chairman of the Board.
 
</div>

Disciple Media

Platforms that allow creators to share several types of content. Some platforms also offer fan engagement/ interactions with the creative artist via videos/ live streams.

Platforms that offer exclusive content to signed up members.

Platforms that allow creators to share their written works and blogs.

Platforms that provide tools to discover relevant analytics, produce content, engage with the audience, and help with the overall process.

Platforms that allow creators to share one of either videography, live streams, photos, music or audio podcasts with fan engagement capabilities.

Blockchain-based Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) allow creators to transfer ownership of their content via platforms that share proceeds with buyers, sellers, creators, and platforms via smart contracts.

Web3 enables creator monetization by providing decentralized platforms for creators to engage with their audience

NFT platforms segment uses metaverse concepts

Maestro

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