Granicus Group
Direct Investments
WatchMojo
Seeded WatchMojo with the original (and only) $250,000 investment in 2006, the company then went on to achieve profitability in 2012 and is today one of the most successful digital media and web video consumer brands in the world.
Bond Sports
Bond Sports is the leading technology platform for the recreational sports industry. Sports complexes, colleges and universities, K-12 public and private schools and park and recreation agencies use Bond's integrated software and payments platform to manage, market, and grow their businesses
CatapultX
CatapultX puts power back in the hands of media companies by driving revenue to the percentage of video views that are currently unmonetized by social platforms through AI driven ad experiences.
Mosea
Mosea is a group payments platform designed to help university students split bills, settle debts with friends, and collect funds and donations for parties, fundraisers, etc. With an interface like Instagram and functionality of Split wise & Venmo combined, Mosea is built to solve every inconvenience surrounding paying & collecting from groups, and to ultimately make the process quick, simple, and fun.
Till Financial
Till’s banking app enables parents to shift the money they’re spending on their kids’ behalf to kids to spend directly themselves with their own virtual debit card. Parents can move money to kids with purpose through tasks and agreements that reward smart decisions and can engage extended family (or close friends that feel like family) to support kids as they work towards big goals.
We4C
We4C is an AI company that analyses thousands of social media messages every minute to measure the Wisdom of The Crowd. In conjunction with advanced quantitative techniques, this wisdom is used to trade highly liquid assets. A key differentiator is our ability to process data as fast as the network can deliver it, with minimal operating expenses
Funds (select list, in alphabetical order)
Super Angel Fund
SuperAngel.Fund is an early stage angel fund investing in Consumer, PropTech & Future of Work companies. The fund is led by Ben Zises who was the first investor and founding advisor to quip, Caraway & Arber (before each had its name), and who also had early investor roles in A Kids Book About, Branch, Brightland, Cadence, Cleancult, Co-op, Density, Envoy, Haus, Judy, Lalo, Settle, Stix, Swag.com and Windmill, among others
Zú Capital
Zú Capital strives to capture the essence of Guy Laliberté's core as the quintessential "storyteller/entrepreneur" who blended a passion for arts, showmanship, business acumen, execution into Cirque du Soleil. At the intersection of technology & media, Zú recruits the best entrepreneurs and support them in their course to success.
About Granicus Group
Granicus Group is a holding company managing Ashkan Karbasfrooshan’s interests and investments in media, finance and real estate.
Entrepreneurship: the point of no return
A graduate from John Molson’s School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal (class of 1999), Ash lectured Undergraduate, Masters and PhD finance students at both Concordia and McGill University while completing his studies. Drawn to the Internet revolution, Ash bypassed a career in finance to pursue the world of startups, first working in the search engine industry at Mamma, one of the first meta-search engines. He then moved to AskMen, where as vice-president, shareholder and columnist got his first taste of deal-making and storytelling. After a five year run, AskMen was acquired first by IGN in 2005 who itself was acquired by News Corp months later.
He then caught the entrepreneurial bug and founded WatchMojo in 2006. Recognizing that YouTube would disrupt media and overtake television, WatchMojo bet big on YouTube, refining an editorial strategy focused on the timeless and universal appeal of top 10 lists while foreseeing that “geek culture would overtake pop culture,” as kids who grew up reading comic books would start working on Wall Street, Madison Ave, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Today WatchMojo is a pop culture phenomenon reaching 150 million viewers each month, having grown into one of the most successful consumer media brands in the 21st century. Ernst & Young recognized WatchMojo’s accomplishments by awarding Ash the Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Media & Entertainment in 2016.
The Art of Storytelling
Ash is a prolific columnist, having published over a thousand articles on management, relationships, business, sports, entertainment and much more. He is also the author of three books: Course To Success: Everything You Need To Succeed Beyond School; The Confessions of Alexander The Great: 33 Lessons in Greatness; and The Ten Year Overnight Success: An Entrepreneur’s Manifesto - How WatchMojo Built the Most Successful Brand on YouTube. Granicus is a river where Alexander the Great’s first crossed into Asia Minor - representing the pursuit of one’s goals and the point of no return. And, by virtue of being married into Greek culture, as an Iranian-born Canadian, Granicus represents a symbol of collaboration, partnership, compromise, diplomacy, and understanding.
A consummate storyteller at heart, he has spent two decades sharing his extensive firsthand knowledge of the media industry, and insights into the entrepreneurial journey, as a columnist at TechCrunch and MediaPost, a speaker at Natpe, Vidcon, Digital Hollywood, Streaming Media, and OMMA, in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, St-Petersburg, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Mexico City, and more recently through his Fox in the Henhouse documentary.
He has interviewed hundreds of prominent newsmakers and celebrities, including Joe Montana, Hugh Hefner, Depeche Mode, Tiesto, Tony Hawk, Nas, Robert Shapiro, Joe Satriani, Wyclef Jean, LL Cool J, Yoko Ono, Lyor Cohen, Gene Simmons, Seal, Russell Simmons, Joe Cocker, Tears for Fears, Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard.
Ash & WatchMojo are represented by ICM Partners.
Here to Serve: Supporting & Giving Back
After founding Granicus Publishing in the early 2000s, in 2020, Ash set up Granicus Group to support and advise entrepreneurs and storytellers. For investments, grants, donations and any other inquiries, please use the contact form below.