Comcast Ventures
{{Short description|American venture capital firm}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Comcast Ventures
| logo = Cv logo.jpg
| type = Private
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1999}}
| defunct = n/a
| location_city = New York, New York
| location_country = U.S.
| industry = Private equity
| parent = Comcast
| homepage = {{URL|http://www.comcastventures.com}}
}}
Comcast Ventures is a corporate venture capital firm headquartered in New York, NY.
History
In early 2011, Comcast and NBCUniversal combined their two venture arms, Comcast Interactive Capital founded in 1999 and the Peacock Fund, to form Comcast Ventures. {{cite news
| url = https://www.businessinsider.com/this-woman-is-looking-to-invest-more-than-750-million-in-silicon-valley-startups-2011-12
| title = Comcast Has A Huge New Venture Fund, And This Woman Is Running It
| publisher = Business Insider
| author = Matt Rosoff
| date = December 12, 2011
| accessdate = December 2, 2018
}}
In 2012, Comcast Ventures set up the Catalyst Fund with $20 million under management to invest in underrepresented entrepreneurs.{{cite news
| url = https://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-catalyst-fund-interview-2017-10?r=UK&IR=T
| title = Diversity is a massive problem in Silicon Valley — meet the fund backing minority entrepreneurs
| publisher = Business Insider
| author = Shona Ghosh
| date = October 7, 2017
| accessdate = December 2, 2018
}} In January 2020, NBA Champion Andre Iguodala joined the Catalyst Fund as a Venture Partner.{{cite news
| url = https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/14/nba-champion-andre-iguodala-counts-zoom-as-best-investment-yet.html
| title = NBA champ and tech investor Andre Iguodala counts Zoom's triple since IPO as best investment
| publisher = CNBC
| author = Kevin Stankiewicz
| date = February 14, 2020
| accessdate = March 6, 2020
}}
In November 2020, Comcast announced its venture arm would be folded into the corporate business division led by Sam Schwartz.{{cite news
| url = https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/13/comcast-to-narrow-focus-of-comcast-ventures-leading-to-partner-defections.html
| title = Comcast to fold Comcast Ventures into corporate business division, focus on strategic investment
| publisher = CNBC
| author = Alex Sherman
| date = November 13, 2020
| accessdate = June 23, 2021
}} Between 2011 and 2020, Amy Banse was the Managing Director and Head of Funds.{{cite news
| url = https://www.businessinsider.com/this-woman-is-looking-to-invest-more-than-750-million-in-silicon-valley-startups-2011-12
| title = Comcast Has A Huge New Venture Fund, And This Woman Is Running It
| publisher = Business Insider
| author = Matt Rosoff
| date = December 12, 2011
| accessdate = December 2, 2018
}} The firm’s partners also included Gil Beyda, Andrew Cleland, Sam Landman, Dinesh Moorjani, Rick Prostko, Dave Zilberman, Daniel Gulati, and Kim Armor.{{cite news
| url = https://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-catalyst-fund-interview-2017-10?r=UK&IR=T
| title = Diversity is a massive problem in Silicon Valley — meet the fund backing underrepresented entrepreneurs
| publisher = Business Insider
| author = Shona Ghosh
| date = October 7, 2017
| accessdate = December 2, 2018
}}
In November 2021, Allison Goldberg joined Comcast Ventures as Managing Partner. Allison previously served as Group Managing Director & Senior Vice President of Time Warner Investments, where she ran the group focused on investing up to $25MM in private companies to generate both strategic value and financial returns for Time Warner Inc.
As of December 2023, the group's partners include Allison Goldberg, Marc Silberman, and Michelle Chang.
Investments
Comcast has been ranked the 4th Corporate Startup Investor in the World.{{cn|date=December 2021}} In the past six years up to 2017, the corporation had invested in 105 early-stage companies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillymag.com/business/2017/06/19/comcast-ventures-startup-investment/|title=Comcast Ranked 4th Top Corporate Startup Investor in the World|last=Weiss|first=Haley|date=2017-06-19|website=Philadelphia Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-15}} These companies include Away (luggage),{{cite news
| url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaklich/2018/06/28/luggage-startup-away-raises-50m-in-series-c-and-hits-profitability-within-two-years/#42f658077760
| title = Luggage Startup Away Raises $50M In Series C And Hits Profitability Within Two Years
| work = Forbes
| author = Tanya Klich
| date = June 28, 2018
| accessdate = December 2, 2018
}} CloudPassage,{{Cite web|url=https://vrarpioneers.com/2019/08/12/most-active-vcs-in-the-xr-space/|title=Most Active VC's in the XR Space|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-22}} Dandelion Energy{{Cite web|url=https://cleantechnica.com/2019/02/14/dandelion-energy-closes-16-million-series-a-round-to-expand-geothermal-energy/|title=Dandelion Energy Closes $16 Million Series A Round To Expand Geothermal Energy|date=2019-02-15|website=CleanTechnica|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-26}} FanDuel,{{cite news
| url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2013/01/30/fantasy-sports-service-fanduel-secures-11-million-investment-includes-money-from-comcast-ventures/
| title = Fantasy Sports Service, FanDuel, Secures $11 Million Investment; Includes Money From Comcast Ventures
| work = Forbes
| author = Darren Heitner
| date = January 30, 2013
| accessdate = February 16, 2014
}} Quantifind,{{cite news|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/blog/techflash/2016/02/marketing-insight-platform-quantifind-raises-30m.html|title=Marketing insight platform Quantifind raises $30M and will double Menlo Park staff|author=Gina Hall|date=February 24, 2016|accessdate=December 2, 2018|publisher=Silicon Valley Business Journal}} Slack Technologies,{{cite news
| url = https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/01/slack-raises-200m-at-3-8b-valuation-for-business-messaging/
| title = Slack is work chat's runaway train, raises $200M at $3.8B
| publisher = Tech Crunch
| author = Katie Roof, Josh Constine
| date = 2015
| accessdate = December 2, 2018
}} Vox Media,{{cite web|url=http://philadelphia.citybizlist.com/article/comcast-ventures-backed-vox-media-raises-34-million|title=Comcast Ventures-backed Vox Media Raises $34 Million|author=staff|date=October 15, 2013|publisher=CityBizList Philadelphia|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222164617/http://philadelphia.citybizlist.com/article/comcast-ventures-backed-vox-media-raises-34-million|archivedate=February 22, 2014|url-status=dead|accessdate=December 2, 2018}} Yieldmo,{{Cite web|url=https://www.signal.nfx.com/investors/gil-beyda|title=Gil Beyda - Comcast Ventures Managing Partner {{!}} Signal|website=Signal: where top founders find and get introduced to the right VCs|access-date=2019-11-27}} and ZeroFox.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/DJFVW00020140430ea4uaxwar|title=ZeroFOX Secures $11M Series A Led by NEA to Combat Social Cyber Attacks|date=2014-04-30|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2019-11-29|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.comcastventures.com Comcast Ventures website]
{{Comcast}}
Category:Financial services companies established in 1999
Category:Venture capital firms of the United States