A-Grade Investments

A-Grade Investments
Private
Industry Private equity
Founded 2010
Founder Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, Ron Burkle,
Headquarters Los Angeles, California
Products Venture Capital
Website www.agradeinvestments.com

A-Grade Investments is a venture capital firm founded in 2010 by actor Ashton Kutcher, entertainment manager Guy Oseary, and billionaire investor Ron Burkle to opportunistically invest in technology start-up companies. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Founding and partners

Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle invested in private equity deals individually, but in 2010, they formed A-Grade Investments to invest in technology startups as a group.[1]

Chris Hollod is a Partner at the firm and works directly with the founders to manage the fund.[2]

In March 2016, Forbes released a very comprehensive article on A-Grade Investments entitled "How Ashton Kutcher And Guy Oseary Built A $250 Million Portfolio With Startups Like Uber And Airbnb." [3] Ashton appeared on the cover of the magazine, which became the most-widely read issue in Forbes’ 99-year history. [4]The Forbes article states that the team turned $30m into $250m, representing almost an 8.5x investment multiple.

On May 1, 2013 onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC, Kutcher and Oseary confirmed rumors that the fund was valued at over $100 million.[5]

In 2012 Kutcher, Oseary and Burkle decided to raise more money for A-Grade from several billionaires including David Geffen and Mark Cuban.

Investments

Among its portfolio companies, A-Grade has invested in Spotify, Uber, Shazam, Couple, Soundcloud, and Airbnb.[6] The firm mainly takes part in Seed and Series A rounds.

The firm’s targets tend to be consumer-focused businesses that change the way consumers share information, or shake up traditional marketplaces.[7]

In a 2011 interview with The New York Times, Kutcher said, “I look for companies that solve problems in intelligent and friction-free ways and break boundaries.”[8]

In a 2013 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Kutcher said, “If we can create efficiencies in that which is mundane, then we accelerate our paths to happiness. The companies that will ultimately do well are the companies that chase happiness. If you find a way to help people find love, or health or friendship, the dollar will chase that.” [9]

Assets

References

  1. ↑ Hampp, Andrew. "Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher's A-GRade Receives $100 Million Valuation". Billboard.com. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Chris Hollod". crunchbase.com. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Greenburg, Zack O'Malley. "How Ashton Kutcher And Guy Oseary Built A $250 Million Portfolio With Startups Like Uber And Airbnb". Forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  4. ↑ Lane, Randall. "Under 30 Summit: Ashton Kutcher Just Kicked Off Greatest-Ever Competition For Young Entrepreneurs". Forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  5. ↑ Dillet, Romain (2013-05-01). "Ashton Kutcher's A-Grade Fund Raising At $100 Million Valuation". Techcrunch.
  6. ↑ Dillet, Romain (2013-05-01). "Ashton Kutcher's A-Grade Fund Raising At $100 Million Valuation". Techcrunch.
  7. ↑ Rushton, Katherine (2013-12-28). "Ashton Kutcher reveals the art of technology investment". The Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Wortham, Jenna (2011-05-25). "An Actor Who Knows Start-Ups". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Rushton, Katherine (2013-12-28). "Ashton Kutcher reveals the art of technology investment". The Telegraph.
  10. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/10/google-acquires-katango-the-automatic-friend-sorter/
  11. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/23/what-skype-really-paid-for-groupme/
  12. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/17/socialcam-autodesk-60-million/
  13. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/30/google-acquires-waterloo-based-e-commerce-startup-amazon-locker-competitor-and-yc-graduate-bufferbox/
  14. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/business/media/nick-daloisio-17-sells-summly-app-to-yahoo.html?_r=0
  15. ↑ http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303595404579318952802236612
  16. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/30/first-data-acquires-mobile-gift-card-platform-gyft/
  17. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2014/08/14/samsung-smartthings-acquisition-2/

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.