Jaddan Comerford Unveils Investment Syndicate Side Stage Ventures

UNIFIED Music Group CEO and founder Jaddan Comerford will back the best and the brightest through a new investment syndicate, Side Stage Ventures.

Announced today (April 5), the independent music kingpin branches out with his venture, a functioning dragon’s den for entrepreneurs with impressive, creative pitches at the early stages of business building.

Comerford works alongside co-founders Emily Casey and Anthony Zaccaria (both Linktree co-founders) on the new venture, its focus on funding rising stars in technology, culture and the creative industries, with the vision and talent to shape culture as they move ahead.

The Group has already put several millions into startups here and overseas, including alcohol-free brewer Heaps Normal, mobile ordering and payments startup Mr Yum, and others, and a further $10 million is earmarked for investment by year’s end.

“We back the thinkers, dreamers and builders blending creativity with technology – to create the next generation of culture defining companies,” reads the mission statement on the venture’s homepage. 

Venture funding is a planet-sized business, though a gap remains in championing potential game-changers at the earliest stages, Comerford says.

“We believe that creativity is just as important as technology in creating a brighter future,” explains Comerford, whose own music company reaches into artist management, recordings, events, merch, podcasting and more.

“The founders with the greatest ideas are those who blend the two to solve challenges. We started Side Stage Ventures to invest in these types of creatives; the creatives who have an idea or a company built on imagination and technology.”

Side Stage Ventures boasts a brainstrust that includes Matt Allen of Tractor Ventures; Ben Grabiner, co-founder of Platoon (acquired by Apple); and Kieran Rivett, COO, Nine Buildings, (ex-CFO of Aesop), plus a “curated community of investors” which includes musicians, entertainers and more.

The venture also has a partnership with investment platform TEN13 to run deals, manage compliance and onboard investors, and provide support for back-end operations.

“Side Stage Ventures is founded by founders for founders,” adds Zaccaria in a statement. “We are all running our own companies right now and understand the highs and lows of growing and scaling global, multi-million dollar companies. This gives us a unique ability to support founders.”

Read more on Side Stage here.