JayZ has been considering a new career of late, and it is almost as exciting as belting out hits for the billboard. The music sensation today announced the launch of his venture capital firm Arrive. The firm will work alongside early stage startups and help them grow by offering material as well as other assistance.
Rumors of a VC firm backed by JayZ had been in the air since the past couple of months. After all, JayZ is known to be a prolific investors and has put in money into the likes of Stance, Uber etc. However, the rumors were confirmed today after a press release from parent Roc Nation. The firm will provide early stage startups with funding, business development and branding.
In case you are unaware of it, Roc Nation is a full-service entertainment company, that is inclusive of artist and athlete management, label, publishing, touring, film / TV and new ventures. Quite a unique mixture of niches, but there it is.
Incidentally, it is the final part of the firm’s offering that form its USP as well. After all, any rich dude can offer to invest capital. However, startups that actually have the potential to grow into something major do not want just anyone participating in their decision making process. With increasing awareness, there is no dearth of investors for a worthy startup and the latter are now considering the value brought by a potential investor as well. And that is one of Arrive’s USPs.
Roc Nation has had quite a bit of experience with brand building. True, most of its expertise has to do with artists and athletes instead of startups. However, at a certain level, the process gets pretty similar. And having an investor who is familiar with all the nuances of that particular department on-board, could be a big help.
Interestingly, Arrive doesn’t have a fund as of yet. The firm is still working on that part and once it manages to put one together, it could make investments in new companies as well as those previously backed by JayZ through Roc Nation.
Roc Nation is working in partnership with Primary Venture Partners and GlassBridge Asset Management so as to be able to provide further value to the startups it invests in through Arrive. While Primary Ventures will be helping guide Arrive’s investments, GlassBridge will provide business infrastructure support.
