The team behind Monstro is launching a new microfund called Monstro Ventures, according to co-founder David Prager.
For the unfamiliar, Monstro is an ad agency with headquarters in Oakland and another office in Los Angeles that specializes in video creative, including videos that get hype going around crowdfunding or launches of new tech products.
Prager is best-known as the founder of Revision3, acquired by Discovery Communications in 2012. Rev3, as it is sometimes called, was an early player in Web TV, whose programs then and now cover niche topics in tech, gaming and other areas of pop culture.
The entrepreneur-turned-investor told TechCrunch that Monstro Ventures’ first fund clocks in under $5 million.
Prager, along with Monstro execs Mauricio Balvanera and Dalton Crosthwait, intend to invest in companies that can benefit from their marketing and creative expertise but already have a well-thought-out product road map and marketing plan.
Limited partners in Monstro Ventures include familiar names in tech and media, including Prager’s Revision 3 co-founder Kevin Rose, along with Nuzzel CEO Jonathan Abrams, Lowercase Capital’s Chris Sacca, Zuckerberg Media founder Randi Zuckerberg, 500 Startups’ Dave McClure, author and Book in a Box CEO Tucker Max, Rackspace founder Richard Yoo and others.
Interestingly, the partners at Monstro Ventures have agreed not to charge their limited partners a management fee.
Prager explained, “We decided not to charge management fees because we don’t want any LP’s to ever think we’re using fees to keep the lights on at our agency. All we share is the name Monstro. The fund is a standalone thing, totally separate from the agency.”
He also said as investors, Monstro Ventures won’t push founders on using their agency’s services, but if founders bring up the possibility, they’re open to working together in this capacity.
Monstro the agency has done creative work in exchange for equity stakes in tech startups in the past, including Athos, the smart fitness apparel brand. That experience, and venture capital insiders encouraging him, were what drove Prager to form a fund, he said.
Prager had more to say about the path from entrepreneurship to investing on the freshly-launched monstro.vc.
