Horan MediaTech Advisors
Horan MediaTech Advisors is an investment and advisory firm that works with companies from concept stage through public markets.
Our theme is “Inventing the future one great company at a time.”
We are builders with a strong focus on the future. We are not interested in deals that count on financial engineering to create value. We choose the founders that we work with carefully and work with people that we like, trust and respect. We strive to be good partners. We are as close to our portfolio companies and are as active as the founders want us to be.
We are most often involved in discussion about corporate strategy, fundraising, product development and go-to-market plans.
We invest directly as well as through several early stage investment funds in the Pacific Northwest. We also have a long history of partnership with leading investment banks and private equity funds across the country to advance later stage companies. Because of our backgrounds, we focus most of our attention on media and consumer internet companies and have worked with B2B services companies and consumer products. We received a 2023 Community Catalyst Award from the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network for our work with the startup community–more about that here.
We have a unique perspective for three reasons
We are operators.
Although we now function as investors and advisors, we have run businesses at every stage. From five employees to five thousand. We know what it’s like to have to make payroll, make decisions, and hit your numbers. We’ve been there.
We have a broad perspective.
We have worked with a lot of people in a lot of situations. We have won and we have lost. We use all that experience to benefit the companies that we work with.
We know how to exit.
There are many good, small businesses. They can last for decades and feed families. But venture investing is about heading towards a successful and profitable exit. We understand how to create value and realize that value.
Don’t worry about what anybody else is going to do…The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
Peter Drucker
News from HMTA and Our Portfolio
We try to regularly share news about our portfolio companies and the industries in which we work. We’ll also occasionally write thought pieces about topics that we think are interesting and important– most often about early stage investing.
Are We Finally Ready To Think About Google’s Dominance?
James Avery, CEO of Kevel, recently testified in the AntiTrust trial. A 16 year conversation is finally coming to a head The Department of Justice has finally joined the conversation that many of us in the media and tech industries…
UPDATED: Finnegan The Dragon Wins Major Grant From The NIH and the Kennedy Shriver Foundation
HMTA portfolio company, Finnegan The Dragon, has just received a significant SBIR grant to support…
The Greatest Coach in NFL History Is Unemployed…Pay Attention.
Why you should immediately re-write your resume and your LinkedIn profile to emphasize that you…
Horan MediaTech Advisors has worked with a wide range of companies from concept stage startups to mid-cap public companies.
In the past 15 years, we have been part of…
in exits
in acquisitions
in public market value creation
Partners
and Portfolio
Horan MediaTech Advisors has worked with a wide range of companies from concept stage startups to mid-cap public companies.
Our investment activity is primarily channeled through Oregon Venture Fund, Cascade Seed Fund and Portland Seed Fund where we are active investors. We have recently also invested in Elevate Capital Fund 2 as part of our commitment to increasing access to capital by underserved founders.
We have also enjoyed a long and productive working relationship with respected private equity funds including ABS Capital from Baltimore and Star Mountain Capital (formerly Halyard) from New York. Through these funds we work with larger companies.
Our direct investments tend to be in early-stage media, ad tech and consumer product companies. We are also active in the startup community of the Pacific Northwest through InventOR and the Portland State Business Accelerator.
Peter took a chance on me all the way back in 2008, investing and joining my board when it was just myself, one other investor, and a small vertical ad network. Peter has been indispensable for his industry insights, fundraising advice, and being a friend and mentor as Adzerk (now Kevel!) has grown over the years.
In the realm of investors and advisers, Pam and Peter are godsends. They bring deep experience, robust networks and care as much about the people as the money. We are incredibly grateful to have them on our team.
[Peter] is always there whenever I need him, always willing to pick up the phone or intro me to anyone, or roll up the sleeves and figure out strategic issues with the company. And his impact is beyond work and company, he has always formed a personal relationship with everyone he invests and advises and I am lucky to have his wise counsel and friendship.
Mediasmith has been very fortunate to have Pam Horan on our Board of Directors for almost two years. Not only has Pam’s perspective and technical knowledge about our industry been invaluable, but she’s also proved to be a real sounding board for me as CEO. Pam’s listening skills and good forthright advice have been very helpful to me at key moments
Peter's advice and guidance come from a lifetime of experience, creativity, thoughtfulness, and savvy, and there's no way we would be where we are without it.
HMTA have been fantastic partners and investors for A Kids Book About. We've been scaling at such a dramatic pace this year and they've been instrumental in helping us navigate the growth.
Who We Are
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Peter C. Horan
Founder -
Pam Horan
Co-Founder
Peter C. Horan
Founder
Peter C. Horan is an entrepreneur and digital media investor with a history of building successful media, commerce and ad technology businesses. As a CEO and independent director he has been part of eight profitable exits in the last ten years totaling almost $1.8 billion in value and more than $4 billion in public market value-creation. He has also been actively involved in $800 million in acquisitions over that same period.
In February of 2014, Peter formed Horan MediaTech Advisors as an umbrella for his investment and consulting activities. Peter currently works with and/or has investments in: AdZerk, Beluga, Business.com, Candid, Digital Trends, A Kids Book About, Lending Tree, ShopPad; Skift; Slumberkins, TougHer, and WildFang. He also advises a number of other media companies. Peter is an active early stage investor and is involved with the Oregon Venture Fund, Cascade Angels, Elevatae Capital and Portland Seed Fund.
He has served on the board of directors of the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Online Publishers Association. Peter is an active outdoorsman and environmentalist and is active in the Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Glen Canyon Institute.
He was previously: President and COO of Answers, Corp.; CEO of IAC Media and Advertising; CEO of About.com; CEO of AllBusiness.com, CEO of Goodmail Systems, and CEO of DevX.
Photo Credit: Joan Brady
Pam Horan
Co-Founder
Pam Horan joined Horan MediaTech Advisors in June 2014 following her successful tenure as President of the Online Publishers Association (now known as Digital Content Next). That organization was the essential thought leader for America’s leading media companies as they developed their strategies for the internet and mobile.
As the leader of that organization Pam was the catalyst for important conversations about internet advertising, strategies for partnering with the FANG platforms, audience development, and technology. She also regularly met with federal and state regulators on issues of privacy and information security.
During her career, Pam has been a successful marketing and product marketing executive at Symantec, Women.com, and Zinio. As part of the global account team at International Data Group, Pam crafted large, strategic and profitable partnerships with the executive management of leading technology companies including Microsoft and Apple.
As part of HMTA, Pam is active in early stage investing both directly and through her work with the early stage venture funds in which we invest. She has also been a strong advocate for increased representation of women on boards of directors and actively mentors female entrepreneurs. Pam currently sits on the board of directors for MEDIASMITH, the Shorty Awards Academy and the board of advisors for DIGITAL PRISM ADVISORS and GearBrain.
Photo Credit: Joan Brady