Media group Disney is understood to have scaled back its financial commitment to its corporate venturing affiliate, Steamboat Ventures, after strong performance in its portfolio caused the fund to be closed relatively early.
Disney is understood to be providing $42.5m to Steamboat’s fifth fund, instead of an expected $75m reported by news provider Fortune in January last year.
This is 50% of the Steamboat Fund V’s total, after the firm filed with US regulators last month that it had raised $85m from 13 limited partners.
The fund was closed in December after one of the fifth fund’s portfolio companies, US-based Woodman Labs, maker of the GoPro sports camera, raised $200m from technology company Foxconn at a $2.25bn valuation.
A source close to the fundraising process said: “Steamboat’s decision to close at $85m and not take additional capital is a function of the remarkably strong performance of the investments already in the fund and gains already realized, for example GoPro, where Steamboat’s stake is already valued at more than 100% of the entire fund, as well as other portfolio companies like 51F Fanli and Cocoa China, which are also experiencing rapid growth and value appreciation.”
John Ball, the firm’s head, moved to Hong Kong and US partners Scott Hilleboe, Beau Laskey and Dan Beldy left while David Min moved into Disney’s strategic innovations team.
It is also understood the firm’s investment focus remains fundamentally the same – both by sector, where it is seeking innovative, high potential businesses in the consumer Internet and digital/social media sectors that are driving significant levels of disruption, and geography, targeting China and North America. Steamboat continues to allocate capital to China but still is looking at US investment opportunities that offer global potential. It had been reported in the Fortune story that the firm was refocusing towards Asia.
It was Laskey, who has set up Knightship Ventures with Beldy, had struck the GoPro deal and Steamboat had seen an earlier success in the space, Cisco’s $590m purchase of Steamboat-backed Pure Digital Technologies, maker of the Flip camera.
The corporate venturing affiliate said it would continue doing some deals in the US and a source close to the firm said it still had plenty of dry powder to make new deals.