What NBC Universal typically invests in

Chris Grosso, NBC Universal SVP, says technology platforms are ideal

NBC Universal has content, a promotion engine, brands and advertising relationships, so its primary investment focus is technology platforms, said Chris Grosso, SVP of Emerging Digital Businesses, NBC Universal Digital Media, who spoke at the AlwaysOn Venture Summit recently.

In this video, he responded to a question about what NBC Universal invests in. 

"Where we’ve done a lot of strategic investing is in companies that have technology platforms that allow us to take those asset and either reach new pools of marketing dollars to help fund them, or alternatively new sets of audiences," he answered.

For instance, NBC made a strategic investment through the NBC Peacock Equity Fund in Adify because NBC didn't want to build a vertical ad network business, said Grosso. NBC invested $3 million in Adify. The Peacock Equity Fund is a $250 million joint venture between GE Capital’s Media, Communications & Entertainment finance business and NBC Universal.

NBC also invested $5 million in BlogHer, which helped its iVillage property expand its reach. NBC invested in game publisher Trion, which helped NBC's Sci-Fi channel build new games, he added.

These investments were all strategic and helped NBC create new revenue streams for their content and brands, Grosso said.

On pure content plays, NBC partnered with Radical Media, a large independent producer of television commercials and documentaries, for a joint venture called DriverTV, said Gross. NBC reportedly invested $6 million. Automakers pay DriverTV to produce and distribute the content across the Web.