Joe GallopAEI Music has launched an investment arm, AEI Ventures, that will aim to support the next generation of founders in the hospitality industries.
AEI Music, the co-founders of El Dorado festival (cap. 10,000) and investors in Detonate (12,000) and Let It Roll (30,000) festivals, said the new arm will invest in companies created by those with little experience in the traditional hospitality industries. It will also focus on working with those from historically excluded or marginalised backgrounds.
It said the new venture will stick to AEI’s independently run approach, with funding raised by reinvesting profits from AEI Music. Founders and businesses backed by AEI will join a network that will receive mentorship, peer support and funding.
AEI Ventures is to launch two years after the opening of The Halley, AEI’s East London shared workspace and production studios. The company has also overseen the growth of Cafe Route, a cafe brand based in London’s Dalston, Haggerston and Broadway Market.
AEI was founded 25 years ago by Diluk Dias (pictured) and James Cotterill following the launch of the online drum and bass website and community, Drum&BassArena, by Cotterill two years earlier. It has since gone on to incorporate recorded music, live events, digital sales, and artist and brand development.
Dias said, “We’ve always found the most success when working with those that come from outside of the traditional sectors we operate in, whether that’s founders or even our internal staff. With the launch of AEI Ventures, we’re expanding this approach beyond the niche dance music industries we’ve traditionally operated in, to bring more outsiders inside across music and hospitality.”