PARTNERS !
-Funding Will Accelerate Company’s Cross Platform Growth, Original
Programming and Development of Network Talent-
( — August 6, 2014) — ALL DEF DIGITAL, INC. (ADD)
announced today it has closed $5M in Series A financing led by the influential
new media venture capital firm Greycroft Partners, with participation from
Advancit Capital, Nu Horizons Investments and e.ventures. The announcement
was jointly made by ADD co-founder Russell Simmons and Greycroft’s Mark
Terbeek, who will join the Company’s Board of Directors.
ALL DEF DIGITAL is the first digital consumer entertainment brand and crossplatform
network built to deliver comedy, music, news, poetry and innovative
artistry in all forms from the New American Mainstream to audiences worldwide. !
The financing will accelerate the Company’s cross-platform growth, artist and
talent development initiatives, and original programming in comedy, music, news
and poetry, as well as branded entertainment and multi-dimensional
sponsorships. The funding will also be used to expand ADD’s multi-channel
network and operations.
Principal investors include some of the most important names in digital media
and entertainment today. Greycroft is known for its experience, influence and
success in the digital arena, making strategic early investments in a prestigious
portfolio of new media and online video start ups including Maker Studios,
, and . Advancit Capital is led by Shari
Redstone and its partners include Jonathan Miller (former chairman of AOL and
Chief Digital Officer for News Corporation). E.ventures is a global venture capital
firm with a 15 year track record backing companies as diverse as Groupon and
Angie’s List. ADD’s funding sources also include as a major investor Nu
Horizons, a fund jointly established between Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons-
Leissner.
“Alan Patricoff at Greycroft is one of the most forward looking and savvy
investors in early and advanced stage companies, period,” said Russell
Simmons, co-founder of ADD. “And Mark Terbeek was one of the first VC’s to
see the revolution in video coming, having experience in many related
investments. Greycroft’s vantage point and network of relationships across the
media landscape will be tremendously valuable to us as we grow.” !
“We are thrilled to have the support of partners like Greycroft, Advancit and
e.ventures.” said Sanjay Sharma, President and COO of ADD. “Mark Terbeek
and Greycroft were the first to see the disruption of traditional media models
caused by the collision of online video and the social web. Mark and the team
have been involved in critical online video businesses, from AwesomenessTV
and ZEFR, to Machinima and Maker Studios.”
“We have had the pleasure of backing some great teams in this sector and when
we had an opportunity to invest in ALL DEF DIGITAL, we jumped at the chance,”
said Terbeek. “When it comes to nurturing and introducing global audiences to
new art forms and new artists, Russell is a one-of-a-kind visionary. He is a
prolific entrepreneur who has been very methodically building an outstanding
platform and team at ALL DEF DIGITAL. I’ve worked closely with Sanjay for five
years and have seen the impact his strategic vision and operating expertise had
in creating the MCN model itself. The opportunity to take prior learnings and
build a transformative new brand, that spans video and music content, in this
category, is tremendous and there’s no one better positioned than ADD to do it.” !
ADD has been growing steadily, developing an increasing number of original
content series, profiling and developing content with select network partners, and
ramping up creative solutions with top tier brands. It recently announced a
groundbreaking collaboration with Samsung to create ADD52, an artist discovery
platform tied into an All Def channel on the MILK music streaming service. The
Company’s most recent “Single of the Week” broke the Billboard/Twitter “Real
Time” Top 10 Chart shortly after being released.
