Brand Capital

Established in 2006, with over $180 million under management, BDMI makes early stage investments into innovative companies in the tech and media landscape. ENTERPRISE NETWORK Drawing upon the global reach of parent company Bertelsmann, BDMI is a financially-driven corporate venture investor that brings a wealth of experience and opportunities to emerging companies. BDMI provides not only capital, but also brings access to a worldwide collection of diverse businesses within Bertelsmann and via our broader network of media, platform and tech connections. Our goal is to partner with companies that can benefit from our expertise and global perspective. TWO FUNDS BDMI invests out of two funds: a seed fund and a traditional early stage fund. For the seed fund, we typically prefer to see a product or service that is live in the marketplace with some initial data points that demonstrate early signs of product-market fit. We don’t usually lead seed stage investments, but prefer to join a syndicate with a lead already in place. FLEXIBLE INVESTING In BDMI’s main fund, we typically pursue Series A and Series B rounds with an initial investment of $500k to $10m plus reserves for follow-ons. We are comfortable leading an investment, co-leading or joining a syndicate with other strategic or financial investors. Depending upon the size of our investment, we usually hold voting board seats or observer seats. We invest in companies based in North America, Europe and Israel. Bertelsmann Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the entertainment group RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato Group, Bertelsmann Marketing Services, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 165,000 employees worldwide and generated revenues of €20.2 billion in the 2022 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. RTL Group – Quality Entertainment on all Channels RTL Group is a leading entertainment company across broadcast, streaming, content and digital, with interests in 56 television channels, eight streaming services and 36 radio stations. The Group’s families of TV channels are either number one or number two in six European countries, while RTL Group owns or has interests in radio stations in France, Germany, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Deutschland is the Group’s largest business unit and Germany’s first cross-media champion, operating across TV, streaming, radio, digital and publishing. RTL Group‘s streaming services include RTL+ in Germany and Hungary, Videoland in the Netherlands and 6play in France. Fremantle is one of the world’s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, responsible for more than 12,000 hours of programming per year, alongside an international network of teams operating in 27 countries. Bertelsmann is the majority shareholder of RTL Group, holding 75 percent of its shares. Penguin Random House – Number One in the World of Book Publishing Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, is dedicated to its mission of nourishing a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers everywhere. The company employs more than 10,000 people globally. With more than 300 imprints and brands on six continents, Penguin Random House comprises adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital English-, German- and Spanish-language trade book publishing businesses in more than 20 countries worldwide. With over 16,000 new titles and more than 700 million print, audio and e-books sold annually, Penguin Random House’s publishing lists include more than 80 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors. Penguin Random House is wholly owned by Bertelsmann. BMG – Home for Songwriters and Artists in the Digital Age BMG – established in 2008 – is the world’s fourth-biggest music company, the first new global player in the music business of the streaming age, and a record label and music publisher in one. Named in 2020 as one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company, BMG’s pitch is unique – a relentless focus on fairness, transparency and service to its artist and songwriter clients. BMG’s 22 offices across 13 core music markets now represent over 3 million songs and recordings, including many of the most renowned and successful catalogs in popular music history. BMG’s fresh approach includes production music, films, books, artist management, merchandise, neighboring rights and live as well as music publishing and recordings off the same service platform. With its multi-platform perspective, integrated technology platform and commitment to help artists maximize their income, BMG aims to be the best company in music to do business with. BMG is wholly owned by Bertelsmann. Arvato Group – One-Stop Everything Arvato Group is an internationally active service group that develops and implements customised solutions for various business processes for customers in diverse industries in more than 40 countries. The group's solution portfolio, which ranges from supply chain solutions (Arvato) and financial services (Riverty) to IT services (Arvato Systems), is used by globally renowned companies from a wide variety of industries – from telecommunications providers and energy suppliers to banks and insurance companies as well as e-commerce, IT and Internet providers. Arvato is wholly owned by Bertelsmann. The services business also includes the global customer experience company Majorel, which is listed on Euronext in Amsterdam and in which Bertelsmann holds a stake of around 40 percent. Bertelsmann Marketing Services – Powerful Marketing and Printing Expertise The Bertelsmann Marketing Services division is a cross-channel full-service provider for the advertising industry in which all of Bertelsmann’s direct marketing and print activities are bundled. Bertelsmann Marketing Services comprises four divisions: First, the German offset printers Mohn Media, GGP Media and Vogel Druck; second, the Book Printing Group in the United States, which consists of several offset and digital printers specializing in the production of books; third, the Digital Marketing Unit, which includes Germany’s leading content agency Territory, Campaign, the DeutschlandCard and the Dialog business; and fourth, the Sonopress Group, with the storage media producer Sonopress and the printing and packaging specialist Topac. Bertelsmann Marketing Services is wholly owned by Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann Education Group – Shaping Learning in the 21st Century Bertelsmann Education Group is home to leading providers of education and workforce management solutions. The group’s companies focus on the healthcare sector, in particular education and training, and deliver innovative ways of teaching and learning for students and professionals, and performance management solutions for organizations. Portfolio companies include the leading US continuing education and workforce management solution provider Relias, the professional practice-oriented Alliant University, Brazil’s number one medical education group Afya; and further venture fund investments. The Bertelsmann Education Group is wholly owned by Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann Investments – International Investment Platforms Bertelsmann Investments (BI) comprises Bertelsmann’s global venture capital activities as well as the Bertelsmann Next growth unit. The venture capital arm includes the Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) funds, as well as selected fund and direct holdings in markets including Europe, the United States, Brazil, Southeast Asia and Africa. The Bertelsmann Next unit advances the entrepreneurial development of new growth sectors and business areas, including digital health, mobile gaming and HR Tech. To date, around €1.7 billion has been invested in more than 400 innovative companies and funds through Bertelsmann Investments. Bertelsmann Investments currently holds over 300 active investments worldwide through its network of start-ups and funds.

Brand Capital International will help strategically navigate your journey through India's large consumer base. As the strategic investment arm of Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd. (BCCL) and the Times Group, we're the largest media conglomerate in India. We are the thought leaders and experts on bringing new companies to the Indian market. With our deep domain expertise and insight into the Indian media landscape, we channel that knowledge into every investment we make -- giving our companies the ability to thrive in one of the world's fastest growing markets.

Night Capital is a $100MM growth equity investment company launched by Night, Inc. (“Night”), a multimedia talent management company who works with talent including Mr. Beast, Preston, and Safiya Nygaard, in conjunction with The Chernin Group ("TCG"), a multi-stage investment firm known for building and growing emerging consumer businesses in the media, commerce and technology industries. Night Capital is focused on acquiring majority interests in consumer-facing companies and building partnerships with relevant creators to drive future business growth. We are seeking an experienced associate or VP to join our team supporting transactions.

Channel 4 Ventures (“C4V”) is a highly innovative corporate venture activity for Channel 4, which invests Channel 4’s airtime in return for minority stakes in early-stage companies (“media-for-equity”). Channel 4 Ventures provides an exciting opportunity for high-growth startups to access mass market audiences via premium marketing inventory (i.e. the spots between Bake-Off, Made in Chelsea, and Gogglebox) without dipping into cash reserves earmarked for competing development priorities. We are the leading media-for-equity fund in the UK and one of the few consumer-focused venture funds in the market with a truly unique proposition, clear value-add, and ambitious team. Since inception in 2015, C4V has completed 50+ investments in consumer growth companies, including Pinterest, Airtasker, Eve Sleep, Swyft, what3words, Strike, Cannaray, Crowdcube, Raylo, and Drover. C4V has invested alongside many prominent VC investors across the consumer ecosystem, such as Accel, Felix, Octopus, Balderton, Draper, Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity Investments, Intel, Whole Foods & BP Ventures. Some of our successful exits via IPO include Eve Sleep, Pinterest, and Readly.

Working across media, consumer products and experiences, UTA Ventures both builds and invests in businesses. UTA Ventures works across the agency and with our clients, and partners with visionary founders to manifest their ideas, fuel their passion, and grow their companies via a wide variety of business models. Ventures is also the early stage investment arm of UTA, co-investing with leading venture firms into a dynamic portfolio of growing companies.

Founded in 1995, the group has grown to become one of the most active and successful corporate venture funds with more than $1 billion invested to date.