Sling Media Co-Founder Jason Krikorian Joins DCM as New General Partner

DCM, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley investing in early stage technology companies in the U.S., China and Japan, announced today that Jason Krikorian, co-founder of Sling Media, the creator of Slingbox and pioneer of ‘placeshifting’, has joined the firm as general partner. DCM has concurrently announced commitments of over $400 million to DCM Fund VI, its most recent early stage venture fund, and the launch of an RMB fund of 200 million. The firm has also announced the promotion of Tokyo-based senior investment professional Osuke Honda to partner, further strengthening its team.

“As co-founder of Sling Media, I had the opportunity to work with DCM as an entrepreneur. From the day we pitched DCM to the day we sold the company, we consistently received contributions and support from the entire team,” said Jason Krikorian, new general partner at DCM. “As a founder, I appreciated their cooperative, global approach, and I am now excited about joining such a cohesive team and contributing to the success of the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Consistent with past funds, DCM’s Fund VI along with the new RMB fund will be dedicated to investments in DCM’s core sectors that include cleantech, digital media, and Internet (content, ecommerce, mobile, and cloud computing) across three key geographies: the U.S., China and Japan. DCM’s investment philosophy to invest in the world’s three largest economies and markets for Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) has led to a number of successful liquidity events. In the last few years, DCM has generated positive exits on both sides of the Pacific with companies such as Sling Media, 51job, Kabu.com, Paycycle and PGP. Many of DCM’s portfolio companies have reached market capitalizations of over $1 billion over the last year, including Fortinet, Neutral Tandem and VanceInfo.

“Jason joining DCM, Osuke taking a larger role, and the new funds in US dollars and Chinese RMB are positive signs that DCM is positioned well for the future as the Pacific Rim takes center stage,” said David Chao, co-founder and general partner at DCM. “We believe DCM continues to gain momentum because of our differentiated global investment strategy, and we believe that the next 18 months will bring additional successful exits for several of our portfolio companies.”

The firm currently has 45 employees with offices in Menlo Park, Beijing and Tokyo. As part of the firm’s expansion Osuke Honda, a senior investment professional based in Tokyo, has been promoted to partner. Osuke joined DCM in 2007 following an early investment in Gree, now a multi-billion dollar market capitalization mobile social network service (SNS) company in Japan. He brings expertise in consumer internet, digital media and the IT services sectors. DCM plans to hire additional senior investment professionals, particularly in China, as the firm continues to grow and expand.

About DCM

DCM is an early stage venture capital firm that has been helping entrepreneurs build world-class technology companies since 1996. The firm’s partners manage six funds totaling in excess of US$2 billion, and have made investments in more than 120 technology companies across the United States and Asia. With offices in Silicon Valley, Beijing and Tokyo, DCM provides hands-on operational guidance and a vast network of business and financial resources to its portfolio companies globally.

DCM’s portfolio-company investments have resulted in a large number of successful exits including several IPOs on seven major exchanges, and many acquisitions since inception, including: 51job (Nasdaq: JOBS), About.com (acquired by The New York Times Co.), Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR), eDreams (acquired by TA), Fortinet (Nasdaq: FTNT), Foundry Networks (Nasdaq: FDRY), HireRight (Nasdaq: HIRE), PayCycle (acquired by Intuit), PGP (acquired by Symantec), Recourse Technologies (acquired by Symantec), Sling Media (acquired by EchoStar), and SMIC (NYSE: SMI). Recent successes include Neutral Tandem, a startup funded by DCM in 2004 that traded at a market cap of over $1B on the NASDAQ in 2009, and VanceInfo, also trading at a market cap in excess of $1B on the NYSE and recently ranked the number one performing stock by Investor’s Business Daily.