On March 4, 2014, Digital Hollywood convened a panel discussion on innovative financing strategies for early stage digital media companies at the 11th Annual 2014 Media Summit New York, an international conference on trends in traditional and digital media.

“While early in their development, incubators, accelerators and crowdfunding platforms have the potential to democratize the fundraising process for first time entrepreneurs, who often lack the network to successfully navigate more traditional funding raising routes. Kickstarter recently surpassed $1 billion in pledges to fund projects, which represents a grassroots desire to fund new ideas. Moreover, raising capital via these alternative vehicles can provide initial market validation, branding and a network of customers, all of which can help entrepreneurs argue for higher valuations when negotiating with venture capitalists in the future,” commented Elgin Thompson, Managing Director, Marcum Cronus Partners.

Panelists included:

• Elgin Thompson, Managing Director, Marcum Cronus Partners
• Brad Wyman, Chief Creative Officer, FundAnything
• Brian Bedol, Chief Executive Officer, Bedrocket
• Urs Cete, Managing Director, Bertelsmann Digital Media
• Chase Garbarino, Chief Executive Officer, Streetwise Media

Jeffrey Binder, General Partner, Genovation Capital