Kliro Capital Partners is pleased to announce its investment in Upside Ventures Fund I LP (“Upside VC”). This ground-breaking venture capital fund takes a revolutionary approach, leveraging the power and influence of a new generation of content creators to empower successful entrepreneurial growth companies.
Launched in April 2024 following the first close, Upside VC is the brainchild of The Sidemen (Europe’s most prominent YouTube collective), Arcade Media (Sidemen management company) and General Partner Jamie Elliott. This unique partnership aims to redefine consumer venture capital with a “distribution focused investment strategy”.
Recognising customer acquisition is a major hurdle for early-stage businesses, Upside VC offers a powerful incremental approach. By accessing the vast reach of its founding partners – The Sidemen – as well as other creators, the fund can significantly reduce customer acquisition costs for its portfolio companies, through the impact of promotions reaching hundreds of millions of potential customers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter).
Arcade Media, who represent The Sidemen, are a key player in this innovative model. For ten years, The Sidemen have captivated audiences with their genuine and relatable content, achieving a staggering 3x higher engagement rate than the industry average. Their collective following across various platforms exceeds a quarter of a billion, translating into unparalleled marketing reach for invested start-ups.
Leading firms like Forerunner Ventures, Y Combinator, and Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) have all recently recognised the power of creator-driven brands and identified the opportunity to invest in companies whose consumer strategy can be accelerated by creator-enabled promotion.
Upside VC will invest in companies that either stand to gain significant additional traction through creator promotion or will benefit from their brand being associated with or backed by, such a powerful creator network.
Kliro Capital Partners is focused on the consumer sector, in particular investing in companies who embrace a disruptive approach in their respective markets. We recognise the significant additional value that the Upside VC investment approach offers growth companies and look forward to working with Jamie Elliott and Arcade Media supporting similar minded entrepreneurs. The forward-thinking digital approach embraced by Upside VC combines innovative financial backing with the unparalleled marketing power of the creator economy. We are excited to be a part of this journey, empowering promising start-ups and ushering in a new era of influencer-driven venture capital.
Contact: Kliro Capital Partners on LinkedIn
