Miroma Ventures said Tuesday that it will invest $100 million over the next few years into consumer brands and media startups through its first formal fund.
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The London-based firm will deploy the capital over the next three to four years, and investments will be a mix of cash and services, founder and CEO Marc Boyan said in an interview. Miroma Ventures has led investments in media brands like Contented and marketing companies like New Stance and Twelve A.M., per Crunchbase, and Boyan’s personal investments include ClassPass, Pinterest, and Who What Wear.
While the firm is based in London and has invested in a number of companies in the United Kingdom, it invests in companies in the United States as well.
Within consumer and media, Boyan said the firm will focus on companies that need strong marketing to build their brands — an area Miroma Ventures knows well. The firm is the investment arm of The Miroma Group, a group of creative and marketing agencies with a track record that includes brand work for musicals including Hamilton and The Book of Mormon, along with experiential work for tech companies like Apple and Airbnb.
“Health, wellness, sport, high-ticket items like cars — those are the obvious ones that will need that brand piece more so than others,” Boyan said. “Because if it’s a high-ticket item, you need to believe it. You need to buy into it, that it’s not just a Facebook ad and whatever.”
Fintech, direct-to-consumer and banking companies could all be potential investments, as they often need strong branding and want to build trust with consumers, Boyan said.
Because of Miroma’s strong skill set within creative branding and marketing, part of its investments in startups include credits companies can use for services. For example, a $2 million investment could consist of $1 million in cash and $1 million in credit for services.
Check sizes from the fund will likely range from $50,000 or $100,000 for seed-stage startups to $3 million. Investments are expected to be for seed and Series A companies, Boyan said.
Seed-stage companies may be just cash investments, whereas Series A companies could need a mix of both cash and services, Boyan said. But it depends on the company and its individual needs.
“We have a full stack (of marketing services),” Boyan said. “So we’ve got everything. So whatever the brand is looking for, we might not necessarily be the best. Everything we deliver just might not be, our fashion might not be as good as someone else. If there is someone better, we will know about them. And again, bring them in.”
The firm doesn’t have a set number of companies it wants to invest in over the next few years, but it’s already done three deals from the $100 million fund.
Illustration: Li-Anne Dias
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Source: https://news.crunchbase.com/news/qa-marc-boyan-of-miroma-ventures-on-investing-100m-in-consumer-and-media-brands/
