bemyfriends Receives Strategic US Investment to Amplify the Global Business of Fandom
by BEMYFRIENDS03.08.23
- bemyfriends has received investment from Cleveland Avenue as an extension of its fully subscribed Series A round resulting in cumulative investments of approx. $29 million (37.9 billion KRW).
- With help from Cleveland Avenue's network in the United States, bemyfriends will expand the fandom business across various industries such as entertainment, sports, and lifestyle.
SEOUL, Korea - 8 March, 2023 - The South Korea-based global fandom business startup bemyfriends announced today that it raised a new investment from the United States venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue, LLC.
Founded in January 2021 by fandom business experts, bemyfriends’ partnership with Cleveland Avenue is expected to catalyze the global fandom business through expansion into the United States market. Following the first closing of the Series A round last year, which included industry-leading Korean companies like CJ Group, GS Corp, and Dreamus Company, the company has received this investment as an extension of its fully subscribed Series A round. The funding from Cleveland Avenue brings the total amount of capital raised by the company to approximately $29 million (37.9 billion KRW) in two years and one month since its foundation.
Founded by Don Thompson, the former President & CEO of McDonald’s Corporation, Cleveland Avenue is a Chicago-based venture capital firm that invests in lifestyle consumer brands and technology companies that positively disrupt large and growing markets. Cleveland Avenue’s investment in bemyfriends is underpinned by the value creation of the company's fandom business expertise including a b2b platform building solution, the outsized opportunity of optimal fan engagement across the entertainment, sports and lifestyle industries, and the unique expertise of bemyfriends' founders and leadership team.
The expertise and know-how of the leadership team at bemyfriends, including co-CEOs Steve Seo and Brice Lee, draws from years of experience in the fandom business market. Seo led the global launch of Weverse, a fandom platform used by numerous worldwide K-Pop stars, while Lee has extensive experience in building platform business infrastructure from his time at SK Telecom and Dreamus Company. Although the fandom business has been common in fields such as K-Pop, bemyfriends has emphasized the universality of fan experiences while working to expand the fandom business beyond entertainment to other countries and industries.
In 2022, bemyfriends developed b.stage, a bespoke platform builder and all-in-one SaaS solution, to provide features to help corporate and personal brands, creators, and artists run their fandom businesses and increase fan engagement. b.stage enables users to monetize their work and maintain full ownership of all data generated on the platform. K-Pop artists, brands, esports teams, sports clubs, broadcast media, and content producers use b.stage as a solution for content, community, global eCommerce, live streaming, and more. As its global usage grows, bemyfriends expects that b.stage can become a core engine of the global fandom business in various industries.
"bemyfriends demonstrates significant potential for global growth and scalability," says Don Thompson. "We look forward to creating synergies between bemyfriends' vision for the global market and Cleveland Avenue network, including portfolio businesses with fandom at their core."
"The fandom business is gaining traction not only in entertainment, but also in a wide range of other industries like retail, gaming, and technology," says Mingu Lee, Managing Partner at Cleveland Avenue. "We are thrilled to partner with bemyfriends, a trend-setting company in the global fandom business with a novel approach to a solution informed by the team’s extensive and comprehensive experience and know-how. Through an active partnership that goes beyond investment, we look forward to working with bemyfriends to promote successful fandom businesses around the world."
"This investment shows that our fandom business and potential is being recognized as a next-generation business model globally," says Steve Seo, co-CEO of bemyfriends. "bemyfriends is an ambitious startup made up of members skilled in creating added value through business expansion, IT technology, fandom business strategy, and consulting. With this investment, we will secure clients from various industries in the United States and solidify our position as the global fandom business company."
As of January 2023, bemyfriends has signed a strategic partnership with the major US talent agency UTA (United Talent Agency) and has been actively communicating with industry leaders around the world through global events such as the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, the United States. More recently, on February 15, bemyfriends updated b.stage with a Global Live Streaming Feature to expand the features and services it offers for fandom businesses.