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The Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF), a New York-based investment fund for independent news outlets has launched an initiative called Digital News Ventures aimed at investing into digital information and news-focused media businesses in emerging markets.
Since 1995, the fund has invested over $113 million in 79 independent news companies in 27 countries, including South Africa's Mail & Guardian Online. According to MDLF, the initiative's goal is "to invest in innovative projects that will help change the way the world interacts with information."
"Digital News Ventures invests in the future of news," said Syed Karim, MDLF Director of Innovation and Digital Strategies. "By financing visionary media ideas, particularly in emerging and frontier markets, we will help foster innovation in news and information, and help create the platforms, tools and services that news businesses need to be viable in the digital age."
Digital News Ventures will invest in:
1. Innovative business models for producing credible news and information.
2. Platforms that generate and disseminate data and information constructed by the public.
3. Tools that help the editorial and content-creation process.
4. Services that help make sense of the onslaught of online information, including reporting on the social web.
5. Products that contribute to the viability of news operations.
6. Viable, independent digital news outlets, especially in frontier markets.
To boost innovation in news and information, the Digital News Ventures will provide news media entrepreneurs with early-stage equity finance between $30 000 and $300 000. The initiative would also support them with strategic advice and business assistance.
If you have an innovative news idea or already have a news media outlet you want to seek investment into, you can start by providing information to Digital News Ventures.
TechLoy