Cox Enterprises, a US-based media group, has formed a $250m corporate venturing fund to only invest in companies created by serial entrepreneur Tripp Rackley (pictured).
The fund’s first deal is for Experience, an application that helps users upgrade their seats from their mobile device at games or live events, run by its president, Ben Ackerman.
Rackley, a former partner at venture capital firm Noro Moseley, has previously sold NFront to software provider Intuit and Firethorn to chip maker Qualcomm.
Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox, said: “For several years we’ve observed Tripp’s success as an entrepreneur and recruited him to our board of directors [in December 2010] because of that sterling track record.”
Rackley added: “My entire career has been focused on building businesses one by one, but now, we will be able to deploy our efforts simultaneously into an array of companies to drive innovation and long-term value creation.”