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VFL

INVESTMENT & ADVISORY

Our mission

VFL Investment & Advisory was founded by three New York area media executives in the advertising/marketing services sector. They were all involved in the creation of the freestanding media services agency, which has become the backbone of the worldwide advertising holding company business.

VFL's founders participated as the advertising industry consolidated down to the five enormous global holding companies that dominate the industry. They know firsthand what it is like to be the CEO of a startup media company and drive it to success.

They are referred to as Active Angels and provide a new kind of specialized and focused source of capital for early stage media and marketing services companies.

Principals

Steven J. Farella

Steven J. Farella

Steve is an entrepreneur in the media agency space.
He was the founding CEO of Havas Media in the US. He co-founded the fastest growing independent media agency, TargetCast tcm in 2002, which he sold to MDC Partners. Today, Steve currently serves as founding Chairman of MDC Media Partners and Assembly Media, a newly launched media agency providing scaled media solutions powered by unique planning and buying technologies. Before launching media agencies Steve built and managed media groups at several leading national advertising agencies including Jordan McGrath Case & Partners, Young & Rubicam, Wells Rich Greene/BDDP and Ammirati & Puris. He began his career at Benton & Bowles.

Steve has been recognized by his peers as Media Execituve of the Year, Media All Star as well as CEO of TargetCast as it was Media Agency of the Year. He served on several committees at the 4As and has been a speaker at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and was a past President of the Advertising Club of New York. Currently, he Chairs the Advisory Committee of St. John's University's School of Professional Studies, is a Board Member the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Chairs its Governance Committee.

David R. Verklin

David R. Verklin

David was the founder/CEO of Canoe Ventures, the advanced -advertising focused joint venture of the big US cable TV operators that is pioneering ad supported video-on-demand. Prior to that he was the founding CEO of Aegis Media Americas and board member of Aegis Group plc where he brought the Carat brand to North and South America prior to its sale to Dentsu. David was also one of the founders of Hal Riney and Partners, one of most awarded creative agencies in country first serving as its media director and then its managing director before its sale to Publicis Group. David leads the VFL Young Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program.

 

Michael D. Lotito <br>(1960 – 2018)

Michael D. Lotito
(1960 – 2018)

Mike was a corporate Chief Executive and successful entrepreneur who created value and built brands for over thirty years.
He was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Media IQ, a New York based media audit firm specializing in evaluating ad buying efficiency for advertisers and their agencies, Mike’s innovations and techniques at Media IQ are still used today to help clients maximize media effectiveness. Previous to Media IQ, Mike spent 20 years in the media agency business at McCann, Benton & Bowles, Ammirati & Puris and finally as President of Initiative Media.
His distinguished work was recognized by his peers in 1995 when he was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's prestigious Hall of Achievement. He was an Independent Director on the Board of BigFoot Interactive (2002-2005), which sold to Epsilon for $120 million during his term. Mike has been Co-Chair of the Annual Multiple Sclerosis Golf Outing for 25 years. This preeminent advertising industry event has raised over $7 million to fight this devastating disease.
In the Fall of 2018 Mike lost his battle with cancer. His impact on the media business, his partners, friends and family will never be forgotten.

Portfolio

hashoff
Denver, Colorado
www.hashoff.com

#HASHOFF provides data-driven, real-time social influencer marketing. Trusted, authentic voices promote organically and in context. Since the advent of social media, brand marketers have sought to enlist the support of the most valuable consumers, the influencers. We do that in real time.We find influencers that have never been found. We allow conversations with brands that are real and lead to maximum results.

SOLD
colspace
New York, NY
www.colspace.com

ColSpace is the leading producer of cloud-based media management software. Their core product MMP (Media Management Platform) helps agencies and advertisers easily and effectively manage their media planning, workflow and reporting in a shared online community.

SOLD
smigin
New York, NY
www.smigin.com

Smigin is changing the way people think about speaking another language. Instead of focusing on verbs and grammar, Smigin helps you build phrases and get you speaking right away. Order food, make reservations, and get around a new city without the weight of phrasebooks. You simply build your phrase, and hear a native speaker pronounce it, so you can sound like a local, not a tourist.

It's like having a native speaker right in your pocket just not as heavy.

EXIT
community
New York, NY & Boston, MA
www.community.co

CommunityCo builds personalized, invitation-only communities using a data-driven, concierge-level methodology to connect ambitious professionals to the right people and resources they need--exactly when they need it.

Please visit our partnership with Forbes and the creation of the Forbes Tech Council at ForbesTechCouncil.com

entitledirect
Norwalk, Connecticut
www.entitledirect.com

ENTITLE DIRECT is the only national title insurance and settlement services company that markets and sells title insurance directly to consumers at up to 25% savings*. They combine more than 35 years of experience and stability with a consumer-friendly approach and provide you with significant savings on title insurance as well as leadership, guidance and transparency throughout the whole closing process.

SOLD
fastmodelsports
Chicago, IL
www.fastmodelsports.com

FastModel has developed the industry's best coaching software products and created incredible brand loyalty. Their clients include the vast majority of professional franchises, more than 90% of NCAA Division I basketball programs and over 5000 coaches from over 75 countries.

SOLD
Bid/r
www.bid-r.com

Bid/r is a publishing and technology company enabling a direct-to-consumer marketplace in which people trade their time, attention and actions directly with brands that offer the most value. Bid/r’s technology effectively reverse engineers the best of Madison Avenue’s “ad tech,” enabling consumers to self-target, list their own “first-person” media time and personal data on an exchange that brands can use to reach them. The marketplace is supported by bid-r.com, a digital publication...

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Bid/r

Bid/r is a publishing and technology company enabling a direct-to-consumer marketplace in which people trade their time, attention and actions directly with brands that offer the most value.

Bid/r’s technology effectively reverse engineers the best of Madison Avenue’s “ad tech,” enabling consumers to self-target, list their own “first-person” media time and personal data on an exchange that brands can use to reach them.

The marketplace is supported by bid-r.com, a digital publication organizing and ranking the best bids brands each day, and publishing data, news and advice enabling consumers and brands to trade more effectively and efficiently in a marketplace where the average American currently is exposed to more than 8,000 bids per day.

Following completion of its market trial, Bid/r will be released to the general public in early 2017. Secure your own personal listing by signing up at bid-r.com/trade/

CLOSED
Glasswing Ventures
Boston, MA
www.glasswing.vc

Glasswing Ventures, LLC operates as a venture capital firm. The Company provides financing to early-stage startups focuses on the artificial intelligence and cybersecurity industries. Glasswing Ventures conducts business in the United States.

Quickframe
New York, NY
www.quickframe.com

QuickFrame is an on-demand platform for brands and publishers to create video at scale. The product is comprised of technology, service, and a marketplace of creators. Customers rely on QuickFrame to produce short-form original and edited video quickly, easily, and cost-effectively. Use cases span ad creative (digital and broadcast), organic social, site content, branded content, and edited/versioned content. Customers include J&J, Colgate, ABC, Turner, Casper, and many more.

CLOSED

    Market view

    There has never been a more exciting time for entrepreneurs and dreamers in the marketing and advertising space. The industry is changing quickly, with new media types and new technologies changing the way the advertising business is transacted.

    VFL uniquely understands the journey that start-ups face navigating through the big, global, New York centric agency holding companies - the key gatekeepers to the Fortune 500 companies.

    Simply put, VFL Investments & Advisory understands the challenges in conceiving, building, and scaling companies in the modern day advertising and marketing services sector.

    Process

    VFL's unique approach to early stage angel investing is highly personal, including a series of face-to-face meetings with the principals.

    Our investment committee is comprised solely of the three founders. We meet with young companies regularly to give quick, clear advice including decisions on whether VFL could provide initial capital. Our investments include a board seat to provide the advice and connections our portfolio companies need to succeed.

    Different than Silicon Valley firms, VFL's New York based team brings unparalleled expertise and strategic thinking together with seed capital to introduce our portfolio companies to Advertising Agencies, Media Agencies and Marketers and their Agencies across the country.

    Contact

    letter
    Steven J. Farella
    sjfarella@vflia.com
    letter
    David R. Verklin
    drverklin@vflia.com
    letter
    Michael D. Lotito
    (1960 – 2018)
    mdlotito@vflia.com
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