Even Sesame Street is getting into the venture capital game
Big Bird and friends have decided to invest in startups.
THE NON-PROFIT behind Sesame Street has announced the formation of a new venture capital fund to invest in startups.
Dubbed Sesame Ventures, the initiative has partnered with Collaborative Fund to target startups working in children’s education, development, health, and nutrition.
The fund will be in charge of the $10 million (€9.2 million) pool with Sesame Ventures on board to advise what the $1 million denominations of investments should be dedicated towards.
President and chief executive of Sesame Workshop Jeffrey Dunn said that partnering with an experienced firm was crucial to the success of this initiative.
“If we only focus on doing everything ourselves, we can have an impact. But if we’re partnering with others, we can have a much bigger impact.”
Power of the Sesame Street brand
Startups chosen by Sesame Ventures stand to benefit from the possibility for characters from the show to market their products.
Citing their involvement in the establishment of the TV network Nick Jr, Dunn said Sesame Street has a pedigree for disrupting kid’s media and now wants to help create a better future for children globally.
“We have a 45-year history of being a creative workshop dedicated to breaking new ground. We are in the midst of an extraordinary time in the history of how digital technology can change the education, health and welfare of kids around the world.”
The startup sector, particularly in the US, has been awash with cash for a number of years. In 2015 alone, funding worldwide reached a record high of $128 billion, which represented a 44% increase on 2014 figures.
