Tenzing

At Upfront, we like to come in at the earliest stages and stick with you as you grow. In today's world, that means we're your first check in at the seed (or even pre-seed) stage. And as you build and raise subsequent rounds, we can support that with our growth fund as well. Bottom line - we want to get to know you as early as possible and work together for a long time. With investment professionals in both LA and the Bay, we invest nationally and even globally for the right deal. Working With Upfront Some VCs have great networks. Some have great megaphones. Some VCs offer great counsel. We value all of those but most strongly believe in rolling up our sleeves and doing the hard work alongside you in your moments of need. When your company goes immediately up-and-to-the-right, everybody is your friend. When your company hits a bump in the road we’re there - even if that means telling you the tough messages others may not. The LA Advantage We invest nationally (sometimes internationally) but our entire team is in LA, giving our portfolio valuable leverage. How? Los Angeles is at the crossroads of Asia, Latin America, and North America, providing global perspective and a diverse talent pool to compete with any city in the world. As the country’s second largest city, LA graduates the most engineers of any US market, so we have the talent and resources to build world-changing companies. Of course, LA is also the world’s creative soul, home to the film, music, art and fashion industries as well as the influencers who set the trends and put companies on the map. Upfront Summit Every year, the Upfront Summit hosts more than 1,000 top investors, entrepreneurs, and thought-leaders for an invitation-only event in Los Angeles. With two days of compelling content and conversation, our Summit showcases the best of technology, innovation, and creativity – from established global brands to bleeding edge disruptors. We take on issues like race, gender, freedom of the press, and bullying, and we tackle the conflicts and contradictions of technology industry successes. And, of course, Upfront portfolio companies are center stage, helping you build your reputation and network. Diversity & Inclusion Upfront Ventures is dedicated to increasing equality, both on our own team and with the companies and founders that we fund. It’s the right thing to do - and diverse teams make better businesses.

As a Certified B Corporation, Five V meets the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency to balance purpose and profit. The core principle of Five V is alignment. We believe in full alignment between ourselves and the businesses we invest in. The Five V team is the biggest investor in our funds. We share risk and reward with the businesses we partner with and our investor network. As a result of this alignment principle, Five V has an extraordinary group of investors forming a powerful and unique network across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe. Five V contributes strategically to our portfolio companies through a collaborative approach that allows each business to reach its full potential and to create value for all stakeholders. Our team is dedicated to assisting our portfolio companies by leveraging our extensive networks and international experience. Five V seeks established, leading businesses, across all industries, that are on the front foot of technology, which generate sustainable earnings and cashflow, and have opportunities for strong growth. Our aim is to support our portfolio companies to build sustainable leading positions in Australia or overseas. Five V Fund IV has in excess of $550m of long-term capital available to partner with leading founders and businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Fund IV’s capital sits alongside our Fund I, Fund II and Fund III portfolios, taking our current funds under management to over $1.3b. We are fortunate to be investors in a number of great companies including: Mantel Group, Automic Group, Penten, Openway Food Co, Monson Agencies, APP Corporation, Totara Learning, Zenith Group, Universal Store, Probe Group, Education Perfect, Plenti, Madman Entertainment, Canva and SiteMinder.

We invest in exceptional entrepreneurs building category leading technology companies at the Seed stage. We provide hands-on support crucial for building and scaling category-leading companies, including operations strategy, brand building, recruiting, and mission-critical introductions. Our diverse backgrounds in technology, business, government, entertainment, and finance allow us to accelerate entrepreneurs on the verge of their breakthrough moment.

Cybernetix Ventures is a venture capital firm leading the way for investment into early-stage robotics, automation, and AI startups. Headquartered in Boston, the world’s epicenter for robotics innovation, Cybernetix connects its portfolio to the national and global robotics ecosystems, bringing unparalleled expertise to companies poised to make major impacts in sectors including advanced manufacturing, logistics/warehousing, architecture, engineering and construction and healthcare/medical devices. The fund will also invest in key robotics-enabling software companies in AI/machine learning, cloud robotics, cybersecurity, autonomy, and sensors/edge computing.

As a group, we bring varied, relevant and sometimes unexpected experience to our roles. Our team has dabbled in founding companies, management consulting, operations, film production, ski instruction, language instruction, ceramic making, sommelier services, and more! We are building the pre-eminent global community for high potential, early-stage digital content startups, where we focus on facilitating relevant connections that can support their growth. There are over 300 early-stage startups in our community, and 100 industry executives and mentors in our support network, across 40 countries. Every quarter, we proactively make 50 introductions to subject matter experts, potential partners and customers for our founder members. We also provide a platform for peer to peer knowledge sharing and host educational and networking events for members.

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.