MIT Media Lab Receives $200,000 In Funding From AOL Ventures
- by Gavin O'Malley @mp_gavin, February 10, 2010
Hoping to have a hand in the next big digital discovery, AOL on Wednesday committed $200,000 over a three-year period to the MIT Media Lab.
The sponsorship is being spearheaded by AOL Ventures, a division established by AOL in late 2009 to support early-stage, externally developed digital technologies.
In exchange for its investment, AOL will have the opportunity to collaborate on the Media Lab's research, including rights to license work developed at the Media Lab during its sponsorship.
"Investing in innovation in a creative, non-traditional environment is a fundamental part of AOL's future," said Jeff Reynar, head of technology for engineering and products at AOL. "The company will be able to interact with Media Lab researchers and benefit from early access to emerging technologies."
Reynar, who joined the company in late January, is building out and managing AOL's New York Technology Center, and is focused on innovation for AOL's content business.
He also will be responsible for coordinating the collaboration for the company with Media Lab research teams on projects to explore and develop advances in areas that can help transform the way people interact with digital technologies.
The Media Lab, founded in 1985, applies an unorthodox research approach to envision the impact of emerging technologies on everyday life. Media Lab designers, engineers, artists, and scientists work atelier-style in some 30 research groups on projects aimed at inventing -- and reinventing -- how humans experience, and can be aided by, technology.
The Lab is supported by more than 60 sponsors, including some of the world's leading corporations.
AOL Ventures came about as part of the five-point strategy that CEO Tim Armstrong laid out last year. As outlined internally and to members of the press, it included the continued expansion of AOL's communication tools, vertical content, local and online mapping services, its third-party ad network, and early-stage investment through AOL Ventures.
Wow - one executive's annual salary over a three year period. They really are pinning their hopes and dreams on this investment, aren't they? Here's some research for AOL - dial-up is dead and nobody cares about your bland, middle-of-the-road content except people who aren't smart enough to change their homepage to something meaningful and useful.
Wow! AOL must be pretty confident of "the next big thing" to invest $200k over the next three years! That would probably even equate to part of a single person's salary, such is there largesse!
Oops ... Jonathan you beat me to it.