VENN, the Video Game Entertainment and News Network, has secured $26M USD in a Series A funding round. 

The round was co-led by BITKRAFT, which also participated in VENN’s seed round, and Nexstar Media Group, Inc., WISE Ventures (parent company of Call of Duty League’s Minnesota Rokkr), Alumni Ventures Group, and Josh Kroenke (Vice-Chair, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment – parent company of Overwatch League’s Los Angeles Gladiators, Call of Duty League’s Los Angeles Guerillas, Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids, and Arsenal FC). It also attracted participation from most of the other existing seed investors. 

Nexstar has also been granted exclusive content and sales rights for local television broadcasting across its 197 stations, and has the right to appoint a member to the VENN Board of Directors. 

Discussing the news VENN co-founder and co-CEO, Ben Kusin, said:

“With this new funding round, VENN is positioned for its next phase of growth as we plan to further expand our content creation capabilities and continue to enhance the distribution of our ‘instant and everywhere’ viewing experience. 

“We’re proud to welcome Nexstar as an important strategic investor and exclusive local television partner as we leverage the national reach of their 197 television stations, related digital multicast signals, and expansive digital properties with over 100M MAU and 1B monthly page views in the United States.”

While Nexstar Media Group President, COO, and CFO, Thomas E. Carter, added:

“VENN is a new kind of TV network built for the streaming and digital generation, and it’s developing leading-edge content for the millennial and Gen-Z cultures who are obsessed with gaming. Gaming and esports are two fast-growing sectors and through our investment we plan to distribute VENN content across our broadcast platform to address a younger audience.”

VENN has also announced the appointment of former MTV executive, Jeff Jacobs, as Executive Vice President and General Manager. In his new role he will be overseeing VENN’s content and business operations, and powering the company’s growth. 

Following its ambitious expansion strategy, VENN also recently acquired TV-based streaming channel Roku, which has over 40M active accounts, and is pre-installed on around one-third of all smart TV’s currently sold. 

Staying with VENN, as we reported yesterday, the company has teamed up with Gamers.Vote and MTV’s “Vote For Your Life” for the “Fall-o’-Ween” initiative, which aims to get out the vote among the gaming community ahead of the inaugural “Vote Early Day” on Saturday 24 October. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It was always going to be a challenge for VENN to get the attention of enough of the crucial Millenial and Gen-Z audiences to make the resource-heavy company viable, but so far things seem promising. With on-point tone and content, a team bursting with creative talent, considerable financial backing, and a clear drive to change the entertainment space for the better, the future is looking bright for VENN. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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