Atlanta early-stage investment firm Sound Media Ventures announced an initial close on its first, $25 million fund to support media technology startups.
Founder Shachar Oren declined to disclose the amount of the close but said it continues to change. The fund is projected to be completed by the end of the year. Support for the fund comes from executives in esports, music and film, who make up the firm’s board of directors.
"Tools in media help us connect with each other, learn and communicate in a more efficient, entertaining or productive way,” Oren said.
Oren said the firm may do some angel investing and support companies up to the Series A round. Initial checks would be for between $100,000-$500,000.
The firm has five investments, including Atlanta startups Ghost Gaming and Press Sports. Sound Media Ventures will look for innovations across the globe, but Oren said the Southeast produces strong companies.
The announcement of the initial close comes at a time when more local, early-stage investment firms are raising funds to support the growing startup ecosystem in the region. Three investment firms brought in new partners this year, and another announced the final close of its first fund.
Having local capital, a long-cited weakness of Atlanta and the Southeast, is a sign of a health technology ecosystem.
Oren started investing in media technology companies in spring 2020 before starting to raise for this fund the following summer.
Oren founded digital music aggregator Neurotic Media, which exited to Peloton Interactive in 2018. He hopes to use his own experiences to help startup founders navigate the beginning stages of their companies. Before starting Sound Media Ventures, Oren also mentored founders through Georgia Tech’s ATDC program and Georgia State University’s Main Street accelerator.
Oren said he’s looking for hardworking founders with integrity and “big dreams.”
“When you think about innovations historically, big inventions come to fruition by people trying to solve really big problems,” Oren said.
Media technology became especially important through the pandemic as people adopted new ways to connect with one another and spent more time online.
He sees virtual reality, blockchain technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning as innovations that could help companies scale faster.
“Those are new technologies that help founders create a lot of momentum and value,” Oren said. “Oftentimes they can innovate faster than larger companies with those technologies.”
