Trajan
Veteran

The singer has been quietly plowing millions into private tech startups. According to his manager, Bieber holds stakes in a dozen such companies. FORBES was able to verify four: messaging platform Tinychat, social-*curation app Stamped, gaming outfit Sojo Studios and, most critically, Spot*i*fy, the disruptive music service founded by Daniel Ek and backed by everyone from Sean Parker to Li Ka-shing.
These deals aren’t equity-for-endorsement trades. Bieber put cash into each one, and few of the companies have promoted their links to the singer. Spotify, which is still working to establish itself in the U.S., wouldn’t even discuss Bieber’s investment.
........Bieber’s first investment came in 2009, and though he won’t reveal that company’s name, he’s been on a venture capital roll ever since. Last January he and Braun joined a $1.5 million financing round for Tinychat, along with A-Grade (the investment fund run by actor Ashton Kutcher, billionaire Ron Burkle and Guy Oseary, Madonna’s manager). In May Bieber joined Google Ventures and Bain Capital to invest in Stamped, an app that allows users to rate everything from restaurants to music. Spotify was the big one, as founder Daniel Ek recruited a handful of recording artists to buy in while seeking industry credibility ahead of his company’s U.S. launch last year. Next up: Viddy, a video-sharing app with an Instagram-like interface.
In a typical Bieber deal he’ll put in about $250,000 at the favorable pricing generally reserved for smart money—the kind of strategic partners that help a company long term. Braun won’t disclose the size of Bieber’s portfolio but says it’s between 2% and 5% of the singer’s net worth. FORBES puts Bieber’s fortune at about $80 million, which translates to somewhere in the ballpark of $3 million in venture investments.
Justin Bieber, Venture Capitalist: The Forbes Cover Story - Forbes
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