UK premier media technology VC GMG Ventures turns to Mercury, closes £50M fund.

Image Credits: Wednesday

UK-based early-stage media technology venture capital firm GMG Ventures has spun off into Mercury. It has also raised 50 million pounds ($81.35 million) for a second fund led by the British Business Bank through its Enterprise Capital Funding program to reinvent traditional media models using artificial intelligence.

Other investors in recent funds include Guardian Media Group owner and Mercury’s original investor The Scott Trust, which has started to back new businesses amid disruption in the media space. A number of other institutional, strategic and angel backers also participated.

We are excited to announce the launch of our first multi-LP fund at a time when this profound advance in artificial intelligence is impacting the entire media technology ecosystem, including content creation, gaming, personalization, music, privacy, education, community and communication. ” said Mercury Founding General Partner Alan Hudson.

“The opportunity in the market is arguably stronger than ever with some of the complexities in the industry today. We strive to leverage the full breadth and depth of our experienced team’s expertise to support the startups we invest in and create sustainable value.”

Aside from different investors and a name change, nothing will change at the VC firm, which plans to continue leading seed-stage investments and focus on content and information creation, distribution, consumption and monetization.

In particular, Mercury said it will pay more attention to startups using AI to help people communicate and engage in professional and personal contexts.

We have been investing in generative AI businesses since 2018, and it continues to be an area of ​​interest. In content creation, generative AI models include all the creative tools (e.g. text to various audio and visual formats), developer tools (text to code) and thinking tools,” said Hudson.

“Creation also includes the creative economy in which we are active investors. More than 200 million inventors worldwide are making a living from it and need access to the development tools associated with it.

Mercury has invested in 21 startups in its first fund, including accelerator and incubator Founders Factory. It plans to fund eight new products, making several series of investments each year.