The 11th Hour Dispatch — Thursday, July 19, 2018
BIG BUSINESS
Movie theater powerhouse AMC Theatres and the always data-hungry Facebook have partnered to allow moviegoers to purchase tickets through the social media platform. AMC is the first theater chain to partner with Facebook (though Facebook is already working with Fandango and Atom Tickets, so that’s just a technicality). In the age of Netflix and MoviePass, the film industry is looking for creative ways to get people to the theater, and while this doesn’t do anything for the prices you often hear complaints about, it does make ticket purchases a lot more convenient.
BINGE WATCH
Cheddar is debuting an esports news show today called Cheddar Sports on Microsoft’s gaming-focused streaming platform Mixer. The series covers esports breaking news and serves up analysis of the industry. It will also feature interviews with athletes and their extraordinarily muscular gaming hands. Games and tournaments that will be covered include Fortnite, Overwatch, League of Legends, and more. And now, we wait for that Ninja/Drake interview that I have no doubt the Cheeseheads will try to snag.
YOUNG MONEY
Insight Venture Partners has closed its 10th and largest ever fund for $6.3 billion in order to stay relevant in the shadow of the almighty SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund. The firm’s own general partners are the largest investors in the round. The fund, referred to as Fund X, will be used for continued investment in growth-stage tech startups globally. Since its founding in 1995, Insight has invested in more than 300 companies across a variety of sectors. Three of its companies — DocuSign, Pluralsight, and Smartsheet — have gone public in the last three months alone. This fund dwarfs its previous Fund IX, which was only worth $3.29 billion. While SoftBank’s fund is undoubtedly larger than this fund, it’s still one of the largest in the venture capital world. However, Sequoia Capital, an early investor in companies like Apple and Airbnb, is reportedly also looking to put together a massive competing fund, so an interesting war of money could be brewing.
NOTHIN’ BUT ‘NET
The Brady Bunch house is for sale if you’re looking to move to LA and have a spare $1.9 million lying around.
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