In a stunning move of cooperation and accord, a new fund dubbed the sFund is being put together by a stable of internet and investment heavyweights to further the “social web.”
Kleiner Perkins; Caufield & Byers; Amazon; Facebook; Zynga; Comcast; Liberty Media; and Allen & Company are all investors/advisers in a fund whose total investment pool will be a stunning $250 million dollars.
Bing Gordon, a Kleiner Perkins partner and board member of Amazon and Zynga will head up the fund. He laid out his vision for the sFund:
“Social is just getting started and the opportunities are vast. As in the early days of the Internet, the race is on. Today every business, organization, and entrepreneur should have a social strategy.”
The partners in the fund speak to its serious forward looking vision; each partner has as much to lose if they are not a part of the next online social revolution. By investing in what could be next, they each have a strong chance of owning part of what is the next big thing.
The companies are providing more than just funding, however, they are also going to provide extensive, hands on help to the startups:
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Amazon Web Services (AWS) will provide AWS Getting-Started Support for one year, priority access to worldwide Startup Events, and dedicated business and technical support. Facebook will contribute access to its platform teams, beta APIs, and new programs, like Facebook Credits. Zynga will host periodic sessions with sFund companies to focus on management and technical development, including open source collaboration. Comcast Interactive Capital, Comcast’s venture fund, will provide access to Comcast’s resources, teams, and relationships.
Expect the sFund to make waves across the Valley and larger world of technology in the coming months. This much money and corporate influence is going to be a deadly combination for the status quo.
You can find the sFund on the web here.
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