Kara Swisher

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Bahat to Head $75 Million Bloomberg Beta Tech Fund

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Bloomberg is launching Bloomberg Beta, a new $75 million venture capital tech fund that will be headed by former IGN head Roy Bahat.

The newly minted VC is charged with investing in and also creating early-stage startups for the media and financial news giant.

“Set up as a true fund, Bloomberg Beta will invest for financial return, selecting companies independently of their current or future business relationship with Bloomberg L.P.,” said the company in a press release.

The independent fund — with Bloomberg as the only limited partner — will initially focus on data, technology platforms, content discovery, media distribution, as well as networks and communities, human-computer interaction and “radically new organizational models.”

I am not sure exactly what that is, but the longtime tech exec Bahat — he is also chairman of Ouya, along with his stint running the News Corp.-owned gaming network — has already invested in a range of companies, including Newsle, MkII, Nodejitsu, Codecademy, Errplane and ProsperWorks.

Other Bloomberg Beta partners include Karin Klein, who was an exec at Bloomberg; and James Cham, who comes to the fund from Trinity Ventures.

Bloomberg has had some experience in investing, having backed an internal effort, Bloomberg Ventures, which is no longer in operation.

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Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus