San Francisco-based accelerator and investor Matter Ventures has announced 12 startups in New York and in San Francisco for its intensive five-month accelerator program focusing on media-for-good.
The startups each gets $50,000 in seed funding plus $75,000 to cover the program costs, and will get opportunities to refine their offerings, present entrepreneurial ventures at monthly design/sprint reviews, and pitch to audiences on both coasts at a final Demo Day event.
Media For GoodWhy This Matters in 2017
In a year when public trust in the media is at an all-time low, with a new administration that often refers to the news media as “the enemy of the American people,” Matter Venture’s 2017 cohort calls for more “experiments to help create a more informed, inclusive, and empathetic society.”
“The seeds of the next great media institutions will be planted this year by courageous entrepreneurs who make the leap to build ventures that speak truth to power, close the empathy gap, and take a radically inclusive approach to amplifying the voices of all people,” the announcement added.
“Media is probably at its most dynamic, most evolutionary time in its history,” says Shane Smith CEO of Vice Media, after raising $450 million from TPG this past week to “build the largest millenial video library in the world.”
“With Facebook and Google taking an ever-growing piece of the online advertising pie, looming ‘skinny bundles’ and OTT/DTC offerings exploding the media status quo – networks have to be nimble, smart and fast moving,” Smith added
The Cohort
In San Francisco:
CivNet – its stated mission with its media platform is to empower individuals to make change and to help groups and organizations collaborate across siloes.
The Establishment – aims to provide a platform to anyone who’s been shut out of the conversation, underrepresented or excluded from journalism, or denied representation in the mainstream media.
In the Room – building an app that’s focused on the micro – connecting people closer to communities in which they live.
Nametag – secure platform to have safe conversations with people you trust.
Smartfeed – “good media” platform tailored for kids. This post’s spotlight photo. Started by two moms.
Signl.fm – platform to help improve social sharing and discovery of podcasts which has been increasing in popularity.
In New York:
DADA – social media platform for “visual people and art that spans the world.”
Grafiti – smarter social media conversations, “tool-for-truth” platform.
Rewire – secure and private communications platform for a “free and democratic society.
Purple – platform to directly connect audiences to trustworthy sources of news via messaging.
Multimer – empathy maps analytics platform using novel biosensor technology, building wearables to measure emotional impact in cities. See Wired Magazine’s profile of the technology used to build a bike map called “MindRider.”
Vigilant – single public records search interface, accessible via an API, of data ranging from governmental legislation, to court decisions and budgeting in the U.S. Over 194,000 data sets are being mined.
Source: Matter Ventures
