Following his December departure as BMG’s president of U.S. repertoire, Zach Katz has launched investment group Raised in Space Enterprises with Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, Ripple’s Xpring and tech and music entrepreneur Shara Senderoff.
Based out of Braun’s offices in Santa Monica, Raised In Space will fund entrepreneurs with tech solutions for the music space across all areas, including creation, distribution, fan engagement, ticketing and touring, and guide the projects through to market adoption. Raised In Space will leverage its partnership with Ripple’s Xpring to integrate blockchain and the digital asset XRP when applicable. Investments per company will range from $500,000 to $5 million.
Katz, who serves as Raised in Space’s CEO and partner, stresses he greatly enjoyed his six years at BMG, but felt the tug to return to his entrepreneurial roots. Previously a music industry attorney, Katz was co-founder of label Beluga Heights. “Over the last five-plus years every time I’d have one of these conversations with tech founders I’d find myself being super fired up, but the reality was I had to go back to my day job the next morning, so I could never engage,” he says. “I had that look-in-the-mirror moment and thought about my future and I felt I wanted to have different conversations. I wanted to have a different context for everything that I‘ve learned.”