About Us
W Media Ventures is an angel fund focusing on early-stage Consumer Internet opportunities mainly in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. W Media Ventures was founded by Internet entrepreneur and investor Boris Wertz in 2007 and is based in Vancouver, B.C. Boris is also a venture partner of Acton Capital Partners from Munich / Germany, a large consumer Internet fund that is focused on later stage companies with an established track record of revenues and profitability.
Before founding W Media Ventures, Boris was the Chief Operating Officer of AbeBooks.com, the world’s largest marketplace for new, used and rare and out-of print books which got sold to Amazon in 2008. Boris joined the company in 2002 after JustBooks, the German company he co-founded in 1999, was acquired by AbeBooks. He successfully finished his PhD as well as his graduate studies at the Graduate School of Management (WHU), Koblenz, majoring in Business Economics / Business Management. In 2005, Boris was the Pacific Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner.
W Media Ventures has so far invested in about 15 Consumer Internet companies (see full list of portfolio companies here) and is constantly looking to add more investments.
Here is what we can offer entrepreneurs:
- We are active investors. Having run Consumer Internet companies ourselves, we understand the space and try to pass on as much of our knowledge as possible to our investments.
- We make quick decisions. For start-ups time is often of essence so if we decide to invest, we usually decide within days.
- We have excellent contacts both in North-America and Europe. Having worked in the Consumer Internet space for almost 10 years and being long-term partners with one of the most successful German VC firm, we have excellent industry contacts on both sides of the ocean.
Here is what we are looking for:
- We only invest in Consumer Internet opportunities – digital media, e-commerce, social networks, platforms. We do not invest in software, hardware, infrastructure or telecommunications companies.
- We are mostly interested in early-stage opportunities (as well as late and growth stage investments through the Acton Capital fund). Investments usually range from as low as $50K to $250K for investments by W Media Ventures and $5 million upwards for Acton Capital investments.
- The companies should be based in the Pacific Northwest or Western Canada. We sometimes do exceptions but generally prefer to be geographically close to our investments.