Four years after setting up IPR.VC, the first Nordic venture investment firm dedicated to media content, co-founders Timo Argillander, Tanu-Matti Tuominen and Jarkko Virtanen, are entering the second phase of their expansion. 

So far, the Helsinki-based company has invested €20 million in 16 content projects or companies, and in the development of 14 projects. Those include the Finnish crime series Bordertown, Norwegian dramedy Between Us from Maniac creators, the Finnish films Tom of Finland, One Last Deal, and company Gigglebug Entertainment.

With its second fund of €42 million, raised through a group of Finnish institutional, private and public investors, IPR.VC will drastically change its strategy.

Firstly, the company will narrow down its investments across animation, film, games, mobile, music, internet and TV, to refocus mostly on film, TV drama and to a lesser extent interactive content.  

Secondly, the company will move from a Finnish-centric investment model to a European model.

Thirdly, instead of targeting single projects, IPR.VC will enter targeted partnerships with European-based global distributors, to help them secure the licensing of a slate of premium projects from an early stage.

Explaining his company’s new strategy to nordicfilmandtvnews.com, Argillander said: “We are extremely pleased to announce our new fund of €42 million, set to reach €60-70 million within a year.  With our unique venture capital fund which combines the creative and financial worlds, we have earned the trust of our investors, and succeeded in explaining to them why content is vital and a growing asset.”

He continues: “TV drama in particular is expanding fast. Traditional broadcasters have limited coin so this gives us a privileged spot on the market as major European VC specialised in premium content. As high-risk high-return investors, we simply need to attract the best projects, which means being more aggressive on the international. This is why in the future, we will go into partnerships with selective distribution companies that we feel can grow, to allow them to finance content slates much faster.”

Argillander said the first strategic partnership will be announcement before the end of 2019. Asked if IPR.VC would still consider investing in Nordic production companies, the co-founder said: “Absolutely. A lot is happening in the region and there is a lot of potential for further growth."

To support the ramping up of its international investments, IPR.VC will add 1-2 staff members to the current six in-house executives. Argillander also underlines that IPR.VC will strengthen its ESG criteria to address environmental, social responsibility and gender issues.