Top Media Venture Capital Firms 2024

Whether it’s games and gaming, AI and immersive technology, or developing more stable and powerful communication platforms, VC firms are often the locomotive to get the train moving. 

With so many VC firms to choose from, it’s important to understand what many top-rated organizations can offer your media startup.

• Location: Menlo Park, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Upwork, Databricks, Plaid, MasterClass

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) specializes in helping innovative and visionary companies to become a reality. With a particular focus on the technology and healthcare industries, NEA is committed to supporting a company’s growth at all stages of its development. Additionally, they are able to provide support and assistance for companies at any point in their growth and evolution. 

As a truly bi-coastal firm with offices in California and New York (as well as Washington D.C.), NEA has been able to develop a powerful and interconnected network of resources, innovative people, and amazing possibilities. In fact, one of the biggest strengths of NEA is its ability to work together as a cohesive team to fully benefit each and every startup they invest in. 

As of May 2023, NEA was responsible for $25 billion in managed assets and has helped 270 IPOs launch. Never satisfied with just maintaining, NEA looks to keep expanding and assisting forward-thinking startups to bring their plans to fruition.

• Location: Boulder, Colorado
• Stage: Debt, Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Flat, Alleo.ai

Techstars recognizes that some of the most critical work for startups is actually in helping and guiding their investments to become successful. With this principle in mind, the firm dedicates itself to providing as much guidance and mentorship as they do financial resources. 

By helping each startup best organize and operate their business, Techstars sees their investments turned into long-term dividends. They also understand that innovation and creativity can blossom in any circumstance and look for opportunities to invest and support locally, nationally, and globally. 

Techstars chooses over 500 startups annually to take part in one of their three-month accelerator programs. These mentor-rich opportunities help businesses and entrepreneurs to visualize and actualize the steps needed to take their business from planning to profits.  Participants will also receive a $120k investment and are able to access Techstars’ entrepreneurial network in perpetuity. 

• Location: Palo Alto, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Atlys, SigTuple, Chronicle

Working with Accel offers startups a chance to fuel their bold dreams with exceptional financial prowess as well as over 40 years of VC experience. By focusing on forging strong bonds and relationships between investors and startups, Accel has been able to see numerous businesses take flight with their assistance and guidance. 

Understanding that great ideas and plans often need the most help in the very beginning, Accel has become a champion of seed and early-stage venture investing. By developing a strong foundation early on, companies are able to grow with the confidence that they are supported, both financially and organizationally. 

Some notable former startups for Accel include Lydia, Discord, and Hootsuite — all of which have flourished with considerable success. In fact, Accel has assisted hundreds of successful startups over the years since its inception in 1983 and shows no signs of slowing.

• Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
• Stage: Convertible Note, Early-Stage Venture, Initial Coin Offering, Late-Stage Venture, Seed, Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Parallel, Arrows

As the “#1 most active venture firm in the US,” Alumni Ventures focuses on how the individual investor can be part of a powerful team. By developing a network and community of more than 600,000 members and investors, Alumni is able to rely on the strength of numbers. 

When a startup begins working with Alumni Ventures, they quickly recognize the power and versatility of the network the firm has curated. From investing and supplying capital to mentoring and developing customers and interpersonal connections, startups are given all the help and tools needed to create their own success. 

Alumni Ventures works as hard to develop their investors as they do their startups, realizing that both camps should represent strength in order to maintain balance. As of 2022, they have raised in excess of $1 billion in capital and resources and work with over 9,000 active investors. As a result, they have equity in more than 1,000 portfolio companies.  

• Location: Santa Monica, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Hiki, GoodWork, Golden

Hailing from the West Coast, Chaac Ventures focuses on investing in technology emanating from Southern California,  specifically Princeton University. By looking for investment opportunities in a specific area or from a particular institution, like Princeton, Chaac Ventures is able to leverage the technological ecosystem existing in and around the institution or, in this case, the university. 

As a result, Chaac is able to find greater opportunities for seed and early-stage venture investments. Plus,  working in and around a thriving technology ecosystem also provides its own set of benefits and available networking for both investors and startups. 

Chaac Ventures consistently creates investments within the $250,000 to $1 million range for innovative companies and ideas. Some of their more notable investments include Hiki, GoodWork, and Golden. 

• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Based, Phyla, Dobby

Investing in technology definitely requires keeping a keen eye focused on the future. At Progression Fund, one of the primary motivations for the firm is to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs and consumers. Developing ideas and products that will impact future consumers will promote downstream thinking and progressive investment opportunities. 

As more and more generations of technology users mature and enter the consumer marketplace, they will be looking for products that represent their sensibilities and needs. Currently, Millennials are more than half the workforce. Progression Fund is working to position itself as a global leader and investor in online gaming, commerce and shopping, and lifestyle marketplaces for these growing populations.

• Location: New York, New York
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed, Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Pear Suite, Clearing, Byrdhouse

One of the greatest achievements of the internet is the connectivity and communication made available for a global community. By connecting people from all over the world, our planet has metaphorically become smaller and more like a village. 

Lair East Labs understands that global and international thinking and planning are the next step in our collective development, both communally and commercially. Through their accelerator programs, entrepreneurs with an eye toward international commerce are able to receive the best networking and mentoring opportunities available to help them get started. 

Over a four-month period, participants will gain valuable insight into how to maximize their business through successful fundraising and deftly navigating international financial markets. 

• Location: United Kingdom
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Chatterbox, Unlock

Mercuri focuses on investment possibilities in early-stage ventures, specifically in the fields of media and technology. As these two industries become increasingly intertwined, it seems only logical to leverage the innovative ideas and plans which will emerge. 

At Mercuri, their central focus is on providing more meaningful content and interactions between customers and companies, facilitating better methods for these communications, and developing sustainable businesses that can remain innovative and meaningful. Through their investments in companies like Kickstarter and Decoded, they are supporting the very innovation that will also help to keep them innovative and meaningful, as well. 

• Location: Brooklyn, New York
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: MentorShow, BlueCargo, AnswersNow

Often, innovation arrives after some rules are broken and the status quo is shaken a bit. Some of the greatest achievements had to defy consensus thinking before becoming more widely accepted. Left Lane Capital understands this concept well. In fact, they’ve made it part of their mission statement. They’ve also made investing in life-changing ideas a standard business practice. 

With investments spanning dozens of industries, some particular standouts in their portfolio include Hello Fresh, Delivery Hero, and Trivago. Recently listed as one of GrowthCap’s top 25 Growth Equity Firms, Left Lane seems to be on the right path to continued success.  

• Location: Miami, Florida
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Astra, Nitra, VentureKite, Embrace Software

Sometimes a market for a product or idea is not as developed as the product or idea itself. It may take professionally launching a company in order to actualize the associated market or economy. 

CoVenture is comprised of investors who want to help startups to grow these burgeoning markets and economic ecosystems. They look to achieve these goals by supplying capital at critical steps and pinch points, often beyond just the needs of the startup. By helping startups through financing various strategies, CoVenture is able to assist these businesses in ways they may not have realized they needed. 

As a result, these young companies and entrepreneurs are able to comprehend more of the overall process for supporting and growing a startup. In turn, they’ll hopefully impart the same wisdom to others down the line.

• Location: New York, New York
• Stage: Late-Stage Venture, Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Nifty League, Atomo Coffee

With more than a few high-profile founders and successful companies and organizations in their resumé, RSE Ventures has learned how to pick a winner. Notable standouts include the International Champions Cup, VaynerMedia, Milk Bar and Pizza, and Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins. 

RSE Ventures tend to focus on late-stage capital investments, in which a company or organization is positioned at a critical juncture for success or expansion and needs a helping hand. Their continued success in vaulting businesses to new heights is an exceedingly optimistic sign for their future. 

• Location: London, United Kingdom
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Thought Machine, Hutch, Pollen

Some VC firms use metrics and data as their main determinants of success. For others, the successful businesses and relationships which are forged represent the real wins. At Backed VC, the desire to see investments prosper is as important as creating long-term working relationships between investors, entrepreneurs, and founders.  

Backed VC views its connections with founders to be one which will last and grow throughout the life of a company. This kind of long-term relationship from a VC firm exemplifies the commitment Backed gives to startups. 

Located in London, Backed has amassed a number of European investments, but their client list truly spans the globe. As they continue to promote their ‘’put people first” ethos, it's expected Backed VC will continue to reach valuable entrepreneurs and investments for years to come.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Finlync, pulsESG

A strategic investment division of Workday, Inc, Workday Ventures helps to fund and develop software to assist business practices across a wide variety of industries. Currently, Workday has funded over 2,000 successful startups and partners with 43 companies. 

As a VC firm, Workday likes to focus on supercharging the growth and development of early-stage startups. By ensuring companies have the tools and support needed to gain momentum, they’re much more likely to remain successful for longer. 

Some of Workday’s more notable clients, like League and Guild are looking to transform the healthcare and education fields, respectively. Other investments represent the growing field of enterprise technology. 

• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Hummingbirds, Improovy

Based out of Chicago, M25 focuses solely on supporting tech startups located in the Midwest. Basing much of its decision-making on a unique analytical approach, M25 looks to invest broadly in the steadily expanding tech industry in and around the Midwest. 

M25’s array of clients and investments coalesce around products and services which improve everyday lives for both individuals and businesses. 

Their focus on the Midwest is not just derived from a sense of hometown pride but rather is a reflection of the size and diverse nature of the region. By focusing on a region with immense talent and possibility, yet far less notoriety, M25 looks to bring to light some hidden or undiscovered gems from the middle of the country.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Avalon, Jungle, Carry1st

Located in San Francisco, BITCRAFT Ventures is a VC firm with a definitive focus on gaming, immersive technology, and further development of Web3 technology. They focus on Seed and Series A and B investments, exclusively pertaining to building game-related technology, gaming platforms, and game studios. 

With a client list including Fuze.tv, Discord, and EPIC Games, it’s clear that BITKRAFT is firmly entrenched in the gaming community. Future endeavors look to push the development of “synthetic reality,” in which participants will experience a convergence of the digital and physical worlds, creating a hyper-realistic setting for a myriad of games and experiences.

• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed, Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Radius Agent, Rx Redefined

Crosscut Ventures is a leading VC firm stationed in Los Angeles. They are currently the largest seed-stage VC firm in LA. 

By choosing Southern California instead of Silicon Valley when starting out in 2008, Crosscut was able to amass a substantial client base and help to build a strong tech startup ecosystem.  Currently, they’re managing over $300 million in assets and investments. 

Companies like Fabletics, BuzzFeed, and Ipsy have all benefited from partnerships with and guidance from this firm. Expect Crosscut to keep defying the odds and making an even stronger name for themselves and LA as an international technology hub.

• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Stage: Debt, Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Mezo, BlueTape, Olive

Another Midwest-based VC firm, Chicago Ventures has been a champion of overlooked opportunities and technological possibilities for over a decade. When initially starting their journey, Chicago Ventures realized that much of the seed money available for investments tended to be concentrated in known areas of success.

 It became clear that other deserving startups were around but didn’t have the right connections or communications to procure the needed funds. 

By actively engaging with overlooked groups in the seed stages, strong, long-lasting partnerships are formed. These became the basis for Chicago Venture’s initial portfolio and company success. Currently, they have nearly 80 clients listed in their portfolio.

• Location: Menlo Park, California
• Stage: Debt, Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Attio, Zed Industries

Redpoint Ventures helps clients get started by offering early-stage or seed funding and keep going with late-stage and debt funding. For the past two decades, the firm has successfully partnered with entrepreneurs and founders to help them find their footing and effectively launch their dreams. 

Redpoint has also effectively helped to support entrepreneurs at much later stages, in which critical funds are needed to keep a business going strong. Companies like Sonos, Draft Kings, and even Netflix have successfully partnered with Redpoint over the years, both in their infancies and as established entities.

• Location: New York, New York
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Rembrand, FrankieOne, Arey

Some VC firms choose to focus on specific stages of a startup’s life cycle to dedicate their time and resources. Seed and early stages look to get companies launched, whereas late-stage investments may be more relevant for buoyancy and stability. 

With Greycroft, their approach involves remaining an integral part of a company’s financial and strategic planning for the life of the company. By remaining closely engaged with the startups they invest in, the firm is able to better manage their investments’ needs, often beyond just the financial concerns. 

As a result, Greycroft is able to cultivate teamwork and integrity, both within their invested companies and within their own firm. As a global leader in VC firms, their commitment to partnerships and a sustainable marketplace benefits everyone involved.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Burrow, Boxed, Greenhouse

Through the leveraging of analytical data, Social Starts looks to offer seed money at the moment of company inception. With a focus on supplying initial strength and support, this firm believes in the power of early and often interactions through networking, active outbound research, and deciphering company analytics.

By aggressively pursuing early investing opportunities, Social Starts is able to produce strong and reliable returns for investors. Early investing also helps to lock in the lowest cost basis possible for the most enticing startups.

• Location: Mountain View, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Private Equity, Seed, Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Nest, Slack, GitLab

As part of an initiative to support more innovative startups, Google Ventures was founded and launched in 2009. Instead of looking to fund businesses at certain stages of development, GV decided to create methods for support that started at the earliest stages of development and then followed the company through its growth for decades. 

By focusing on long-term commitments and guidance, GV was able to offer support by helping to develop inclusion, equity, and diversity, adding talent, and engineering prowess to their partner companies. As a result, GV has produced successes like Nest, Slack, and Uber. Additionally, Google Ventures is able to help startups to interface with Google, providing instant access to some of the most innovative technology and expertise available. 

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Stage: Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Seed, Venture
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Airbnb, Coinbase, Databricks

SVA is a long-term investor who champions the potential of a powerful and versatile network for support and knowledge, coupled with the ability to provide specific support in a company’s life cycle. Referred to as inflection points, these moments of singular connections or decisions can greatly impact the trajectory of a company. 

Offering comprehensive support for startups and founders is key to building long-term success. By remaining partners with these same startups for many years, sometimes decades, SVA is able to more clearly understand where a company is going and what kinds of support will be most effective. 

As a result, SVA can point to some highly impressive names in its portfolio, including DoorDash, Snapchat, Twitter, and Airbnb.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Stage: Debt, Early-Stage Venture, Late-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Treet, Eigen Therapeutics

At First Round Capital, they make it their mission to offer support early and often. When starting out over 15 years ago, though, there was much less focus on supplying financial and organizational support. Most investments only came when companies could prove their worth or potential. 

For modern investing strategies, earlier is often better. First Round Capital also understands that beyond the financial help, successful VC firms must work with and partner with the founders for everyone to achieve success. Some of First Round’s success stories include names like Warby Parker, Splice, and Roblox.

• Location: Norwood, Massachusetts
• Stage: Debt, Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Creatively, Bount, Homer

Focusing on companies that thrive at the intersection of media, technology, and entertainment, Advancit Capital looks to create pathways to success, both long and short-term. By strategically approaching a company’s innovative possibilities, as well as its market competition,  Advancit is able to offer startups definitive advantages for how they can proceed. 

Beyond the monetary opportunities, Advancit is also able to provide access to a deep and varied network of industry leaders and luminaries. Committing to partnering for an extended amount of time also helps Advancit to develop its investments for maximum success. 

Since media and technology seem to be more inextricably linked by the day, it seems as if Advancit Capital has positioned itself to remain a substantial force among VC firms. 

• Location: New York, New York
• Stage: Debt, Early-Stage Venture, Seed
• Notable Portfolio Companies: Hidden Door, Medallion, Koodos

Recently, the buzz around AI technology has seemed too great to ignore, and rightly so. Advancements in the field of AI tech are poised to transform numerous aspects of our work and personal lives. 

Investments in startups that feature AI technology are also poised to become more frequent and central to technological advancement. Betaworks is one such VC firm that focuses on AI technology, as well as Web3, NLP, LLMs, and applied machine learning. 

Over the years, Betaworks has invested in more than 150 forward-thinking companies. Betaworks offers services as an accelerator for startups and seed-stage funding and is currently focusing on developing conversational interfaces for social networking.

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