Goal Ventures

Goal Ventures is a Los Angeles-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in games, digital media, XR, blockchain gaming, and entertainment technology companies, founded by industry veterans Ned Sherman and Josh Gutfreund.

Company typePrivate
Founded2018
HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
Headcount1–10
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What Goal Ventures does

Goal Ventures is a Los Angeles-based, privately held venture capital firm (legally Goal Venture Partners I, LLC) that invests in early-stage companies at the intersection of games, digital media, and entertainment technology. The firm was founded by Ned Sherman (also founder of Digital Media Wire and Chief Business Affairs & Legal Officer at Skybound Entertainment) and Josh Gutfreund (formerly a General Partner at Clarity Partners with prior experience at Warburg Pincus), with a Senior Associate, Mary Ermitanio. Per its disclosed focus, the firm invests across three horizontal segments: games and interactive entertainment (globalization, younger audiences, new consumer behaviors), digital media (adtech, rights management, social media, streaming, XR), and software and infrastructure (data and analytics, AI, spatial computing, blockchain, digital retail and commerce).

The firm's core activity is making minority equity investments in portfolio companies across seed through Series C stages, typically as a co-investor rather than lead. Disclosed deal activity from 2021-2023 spans 11+ rounds, including Audigent ($19.1M Series B, July 2021), Double Loop Games ($8M, May 2021), Talespin ($20M Series C, February 2022), Rooter ($25M Series A, January 2022), C2X ($25M, May 2022), Players' Lounge ($10.5M, August 2022), LIV ($8.5M, April 2023), BeBopBee ($4M, May 2023), and Loupe ($3M Series Seed+, March 2023). Co-investors include sector-specialized VCs and corporate venture arms (Bitkraft Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Samsung Next, Amazon Alexa Fund, Griffin Gaming Partners, Galaxy Interactive, Comcast Ventures, Animoca Brands, FTX Ventures, Accenture Ventures, WestRiver Group).

The firm has 1-10 employees and does not publicly disclose AUM, management fees, or carried interest. Its single documented realization is the December 2024 acquisition of portfolio company Audigent by Experian. Goal Ventures markets itself via industry event participation (e.g., the 2021 LA Games Conference "Investing in the Games Ecosystem" panel) and PR coverage of portfolio milestones, with no traditional product distribution or sales motion.

Goal Ventures firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Goal Ventures
Legal name: Goal Venture Partners I, LLC
Website: https://goalventurepartners.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2018
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 1–10 employees
Short description: Goal Ventures is a Los Angeles-based early-stage venture capital firm investing in games, digital media, XR, blockchain gaming, and entertainment technology companies, founded by industry veterans Ned Sherman and Josh Gutfreund.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Goal Ventures industry classification

Industry

Product category: Venture Capital
NAICS: Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)
SIC: Investment Advice (6282)
akta.pro primary industry: Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

Venture capital investing
Games industry investment
Digital media venture
Entertainment technology funding
Early-stage investment

Where Goal Ventures is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Los Angeles
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

Goal Ventures business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Marketing channels2 records

Goal Ventures product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Goal Ventures is a venture capital firm that pools capital into a single fund (Goal Venture Partners I, LLC) and makes equity investments in early-stage companies operating in games, digital media, and entertainment technology. The firm earns returns through investment outcomes and standard fund-level fees, supported by the operating and investing experience of its founders.

Product overview

Goal Ventures is a venture capital firm, not a product company. It does not offer products or services in the traditional sense. The firm focuses on investing in games, digital media, and software/infrastructure ventures through its portfolio companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Goal Venture Partners I, LLC (Fund I) A sector-specialized venture capital fund that invests equity capital in early-stage companies operating in games, digital media, and entertainment technology, offered to institutional and high-net-worth limited partners and deployed into qualifying portfolio companies.

Companies that use Goal Ventures

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Goal Ventures technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Goal Ventures partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Goal Ventures competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Bitkraft Ventures: Early-stage VC dedicated exclusively to games, esports and interactive entertainment with a global mandate. Bitkraft is the most direct comparable, having co-invested with Goal Ventures in LIV, BeBopBee and other portfolio names.
Galaxy Interactive: Games and interactive-media-focused venture arm of Galaxy Digital investing across seed to growth. Galaxy Interactive has co-led rounds with Goal Ventures (Aglet, Lucid Sight), making it a closely overlapping specialist.
Griffin Gaming Partners: Games-focused VC fund led by Phil Sanderson and Peter Levin. Griffin co-invested with Goal in Players' Lounge and Shrapnel, sharing a games-first thesis.
Makers Fund: Global games and interactive entertainment venture firm investing at seed through Series A. Comparable specialist thesis and stage focus to Goal Ventures.
Konvoy Ventures: Early-stage VC focused on the gaming and esports ecosystem. Konvoy operates in a similar stage and sector mandate as Goal Ventures.
London Venture Partners (LVP): Games-only seed and Series A fund co-founded by David Helgason. LVP co-invested with Goal Ventures in Double Loop Games, sharing an early-stage games thesis.
Hiro Capital: Games and metaverse-focused early-stage fund. Hiro Capital co-invested with Goal Ventures in Double Loop Games, making it a direct thematic peer.
Courtside Ventures: Early-stage fund investing at the intersection of sports, gaming and entertainment. Courtside co-invested with Goal in BeBopBee and Players' Lounge.
1Up Ventures: Early-stage fund focused on the business of games and digital media. 1Up co-invested with Goal in Double Loop Games, aligning on stage and vertical.

Broad incumbents

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z games): Large multi-stage VC with a dedicated games fund and broader media/consumer portfolio. a16z competes for the same founders as Goal but with materially greater AUM, brand and follow-on capacity.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Goal Ventures financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Goal Ventures leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Goal Ventures funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Goal Ventures M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments12 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Goal Ventures

What does Goal Ventures do?

Is Goal Ventures a public or private company?

Goal Ventures is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Goal Ventures founded?

Goal Ventures was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.

Where is Goal Ventures based?

Goal Ventures is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.

Who are Goal Ventures's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Bitkraft Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Griffin Gaming Partners, Makers Fund, Konvoy Ventures, London Venture Partners (LVP), Hiro Capital, Courtside Ventures and 1Up Ventures. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z games) is listed as a broad incumbent.

Does Goal Ventures have an API?

No public API is recorded for Goal Ventures.

What industry is Goal Ventures in?

Goal Ventures's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAB, Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B). Its NAICS code is 5259 and its SIC code is 6282.