Matt Golden
Founder and Managing Partner | Golden Venture Partners
Toronto, ON, CANADA
Content that sparkles! Golden Venture Partners founder tells you how he turns nuggets to diamonds for early stage mobile-focused startups
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Biography
Matt Golden is the founder and Managing Partner of Golden Venture Partners. Matt currently sits on the board of Guardly, is a Board observer of Wattpad, and is an Entrepreneurship Mentor with Extreme Startups.
Matt has been focused on early stage mobile-focused startups his entire career, both as an entrepreneur and an investor. As a venture investor and entrepreneur in the mobile marketplace, Matt was most recently an advisor to Five Mobile (acquired by Zynga), and previously was a partner at BlackBerry Partners Fund, a co-founder of Tira Wireless and an associate with Brightspark Ventures.
While at BlackBerry Partners Fund, a venture fund exclusively focused on mobile computing, Matt served on the boards of portfolio companies; SocialDeck, a Toronto based mobile social games platform and publisher (acquired by Google NSDQ: GOOG); and Nexage, a Boston based leading mobile advertising mediation and optimization platform; and spearheaded the investment in Transpera, a San Francisco based leading mobile video advertising platform (acquired by Tremor Media).
Prior to BlackBerry Partners Fund, Matt was a co-founder of Tira Wireless, a mobile games publisher and content deployment technology and services provider. As SVP sales, business and corporate development, Tira became a recognized industry leader and pioneer in both mobile games publishing and content deployment.
While at Brightspark Ventures, Matt was Director of New Ventures and had the opportunity to contribute to a number of seed stage investments from both a venture and operational perspective. Prior to Brightspark, Matt practiced law at Oslers, one of Canada’s premier law firms specializing in business technology, general corporate, financial services and mergers and acquisitions.
Matt’s educational background includes a joint Law/MBA degree from University of Ottawa and a BA in Economics from York University, Magna Cum Laude and Dean’s Honor Roll.
Matt is a speaker at mobile and venture capital events, including Mobile World Congress and CTIA, where he is invited to share his expertise on the mobile marketplace.
Industry Expertise (7)
Capital Markets
Investment Management
Management Consulting
Internet
VC and Private Equity
Telecommunications
Wireless
Areas of Expertise (5)
Venture Capital & Private Equity
Early Stage Mobile-Focused Startups
Entrepreneurship
Mobile Technologies
Digital Technologies
Accomplishments (3)
Mentor – Extreme Startups (professional)
2012-02-20
Extreme Startups is a premier tech accelerator located in Toronto, Ontario. We provide up to $200,000 per company, a collaborative environment, and deep access with companies so that accepted startups can integrate the tools they need from the ground up. Extreme Startups is the epicenter of innovation in Toronto and is dedicated to providing everything it takes to see its startups succeed!
Founder and Managing Partner – Golden Venture Partners (professional)
Golden Venture Partners is a mobile focused seed and early stage venture capital fund based in Toronto. We provide early stage funding and mentorship to young companies that leverage the massive potential of mobile products and services. Golden Venture Partners invests in companies with great founding teams committed to the creation of breakthrough mobile technologies.
Consulting Advisor – Guardly (professional)
Guardly is a platform for emergency communication that changes the way mobile personal safety is delivered. Smartphone users that find themselves in an emergency situation can alert, connect and collaborate with local authorities as well as their own personal safety networks in a single tap. Guardly is committed to dramatically decreasing the amount of time it takes responders to arrive at an emergency. The company is a member of the National Emergency Number Association.
Links (5)
Event Appearances (7)
Navigating the Perils of Early Stage Funding
AccelerateTO Toronto, Ontario
2011-11-09
Judge – Venture Capital Panel
MobileMonday Toronto Event Series Mars Discovery District, Toronto
2010-03-01
Judge
Torstar Digital Startup Weekend Toronto, Ontario
2012-02-09
Insights on Mobile Devices
MobileMonday Toronto Google Event Series MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2010-04-05
Spurring Entrepreneurship: Incubators and Accelerators
Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) 2011 Toronto, Ontario
2011-12-01
Finance 2.0
Interactive Content Exchange Toronto, Ontario
2007-03-22
Insights on Mobile Devices
Mobility Monday MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
2010-04-05
Sample Talks (3)
Spurring Entrepreneurship: Incubators and Accelerators
There has been an increase in incubator and accelerator activity in the last couple of years and the concept has become hotly debated. Technology startup incubator programs let new startups benefit from the proximity of other startups, mentoring and capital and by putting these emerging companies on a defined program to determine if they are a success story in the making or not. This discussion will address how incubators have truly changed the way tech entrepreneurs innovate and contribute.
Finance 2.0
You've got a hot property and a brilliant plan for how to unleash it on multiple platforms all over the world, but how can you raise the capital to move forward? This worksho will examine how producers and developers can access funding from a variety of sources, including private and venture capital, government funds and tax incentives, and look at what types of projects best qualify for investment. As platforms and delivery devices proliferate – what are the new funding models in the 2.0 world?
Navigating the Perils of Early Stage Funding
Need some cash to cover pizza and electricity for a few months while you build the next big thing? This session will cover the pros and cons of bootstrapping, angels, incubators and government funding and help you ensure you’re pursuing the right type of funding.
Availability
- Keynote
- Moderator
- Panelist
- Workshop Leader
- Host/MC
- Corporate Training
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