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Digital News Ventures of the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF) Fund

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Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF), an investment fund for independent news businesses in the developing world, has created an early-stage fund for digital news and information businesses, Digital News Ventures. Digital News Ventures' goal is to foster innovative projects that will "help change the way the world interacts with information." Digital News Ventures is a global fund with a primary focus on projects located in, or with particular application to, emerging and frontier markets.


Communication Strategies

Digital News Ventures is designed to foster innovation in news and information by investing in entrepreneurs who are creating the platforms, tools, and services to support the viablilty of news businesses in the digital age. Digital News Ventures intends to provide early-stage equity finance from US$30,000 to US$300,000 to entrepreneurs whose ideas can be used to provide news and information for more open societies or can help develop financially sustainable news businesses.

 

This fund is aims to invest in innovations in news and information, particularly:

 

  • Innovative business models for producing credible news and information.
  • Tools that help the editorial and content-creation process.
  • Products that contribute to the viability of news operations.
  • Platforms that generate and disseminate data and information constructed by the public.
  • Services that help make sense of the onslaught of online information, including reporting on the social web.
  • Viable, independent digital news outlets, especially in frontier markets.

 

For a current report on MDLF financing and returns to investors, please visit the "Track record" section of their website. 

Development Issues

Media Development

Key Points

According to its website: MDLF has financed 258 projects for 79 independent media companies in 27 countries. The fund also takes into account how investees can help solve some of the challenges facing news media. This philosophy enables investment in projects with moderate scaling opportunities if they are likely to have a high impact on sustaining news businesses or building open societies.

Sources

Press release from MDLF on March 6 2012.

Comments

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/19/2012 - 23:12 Permalink

I wanna know more on how MDLF works best for financing. Seems like a good fund to invest for but i don't know yet where to apply for an MDL Fund, can I have it online or not?

Liz