DEV, NYC’s New Seed Fund For Digital Media Startups, Announces First Investments

Here comes money for media startups: former MediaNet CEO Alan McGlade and VC Michael Yang are announcing the launch of a new NYC-based firm called DEV (Digital Entertainment Ventures) whose early stage capital fund which will invest in next-gen digital media companies. To kick off its launch, DEV is today revealing its first two investments, a live music platform called StageIt and mobile gaming company Mad Humans.

According to the fund’s directors, DEV’s plan is to build up a portfolio with startups focused on new ideas in the music, TV, film, games, publishing and social media space, and they’re especially interested in investing in companies building for Internet-connected TVs, smartphones and tablets. (My kind of startups, actually).

McGlade, in addition to his long stint as the chief exec of music and digital content distribution network MediaNet, was also CEO of Video Jukebox Network (The Box) for six years, which sold to MTV back in 2001. Following the sale, he stayed on at MTV Networks for another year. Yang, meanwhile, is a senior venture funds attorney and was previously a VC for Divine Interventures and Sandbox Industries, as well as a co-founder and CTO of the enterprise software company, Redmind, Inc.

In an essay on the firm’s new site, McGlade delves deeper into his thoughts as to why these industries are ripe for innovation. “Music, film, TV, video games, newspapers and magazines have all been profoundly affected by the explosion of new devices that enable the consumption of digital media,” McGlade explains, before recapping many of the trends shaping our present-day media consumption behaviors. E.g, Nielsen last year reported the first decline in TV homes in 20 years, video games are one of the highest growth segments in entertainment, DVD sales are on a downward slide, handsets and tablets are reshaping the publishing biz, and social media has changed how we discover and enjoy entertainment.

Plus, adds McGlade of DEV’s chosen location, “New York City, with its established media businesses, talent and burgeoning startup ecosystem, has all the right elements for these game-changing companies to emerge,” he says.

Currently, DEV’s team also includes venture partner Damian Manning, and Executive Council Members D. Walker Wainwright, Joseph Saviano, and Alan Goodstadt.

DEV will vet new companies via its team of entrepreneurs and investors, and is now open to startups wishing to submit business plans here.