Daniel Gulati, managing director at Comcast Ventures (CV), the corporate venturing unit of mass media group Comcast, has set up Forecast Fund as an early-stage venture fund investing $500,000 to $2m in consumer startups.
Forecast was incubated within CV and Gulati, a Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars 2019 winner, said he would be managing the fund as founding partner and added: “I will continue to work with my existing portfolio companies and the CV team.”
Forecast has been active since January and led three unannounced seed rounds, Gulati added in a blog post.
He said: “The next decade will be an exciting one for consumer startups. Enabling infrastructure has shortened the time to launch and scale a company. Previously untouched industries, like healthcare, financial services and education, are now being stormed by new entrants with customer-centric products. Entrepreneurship is globalising, with thriving startup ecosystems in Seoul, Stockholm and Sydney. Covid-19 is accelerating the pace of change in digital media, social networking, telemedicine and e-commerce…
“Why work with Forecast? Two reasons. First, too early is our sweet spot. When we identify a founder bursting with talent in an extraordinary market space, we invest before the world cares. Insights and speed are a powerful combination at the earliest stage, and we aspire to think and act with the same conviction as the founders we back.
“Second, healthy growth as a service is our superpower. By leveraging our ties to Comcast NBCUniversal, we offer at-cost TV advertising, direct mail, show integrations and a host of other proprietary assets that drive broad and efficient customer acquisition for our portfolio companies. In a nutshell, we are a decisive partner at the seed stage, and bring the unique benefits of our LP [limited partner, Comcast,] over your lifetime.”
– Photo of Daniel Gulati courtesy of Comcast Ventures
