# Archer

> Archer is a VC fund in Memphis backing Audio, Music and Publishing. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Memphis, United States
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Feb 2014
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/archermalmo
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/archermalmo
- Website: http://archermalmo.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archermalmo

Archer is a VC fund in Memphis focused on Audio and Music. As one of the largest independent advertising agencies in the U.S., Archer Malmo is powered by more than 220 dedicated experts across two offices (Memphis and Austin) and multiple disciplines, who combine brand thinking, data and technology to drive short-term results and long-term growth for our clients. Talent comes first at Archer Malmo. Wework hard at maintaining a culture that attracts the most talented, curious, and collaborative people, and we invest more per capita than the vast majority of agencies on training and development. This philosophy translates to cutting-edge work and business results for our clients; the source of a proud heritage of long-term client relationships.Our talent-first philosophy, focus on long-term client relationships, and emphasis on business results have made Archer Malmo a regular fixture on Advertising Age’s list of Best Places to Work, PR News’ list of Top Places to Work in PR, and the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the nation.As a full-service agency, our capabilities span the breadth of strategic planning, creative, digital, media, PR, and production services. We are proud to work with national and international brands such as CITGO, FedEx, Implus, Juice Plus+, Palm Beach Tan, R.J. Reynolds, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the University of Memphis, USAA, Valent, and Zoetis.To learn more about Archer Malmo, please visit us at www.archermalmo.com or, better yet, give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for Archer. Shizune tracks 8 team members at Archer. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/archer-malmo-2?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Audio | 1 | 50% |
| Music | 1 | 50% |
| Publishing | 1 | 50% |
| Marketplace | 1 | 50% |
| Collaboration | 1 | 50% |

7 industries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gary Backaus | Chief Creative & Strategy Officer | 0 | — |
| Jay Cooper | SVP & Group Account Director | 0 | — |
| Les Edwards | VP & CFO | 0 | — |
| Martha Hample | SVP & Director - Operations | 0 | — |
| Mary Gratzer | SVP & Director - Client Services - Memphis | 0 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Leafless | Leafless is a new ebook marketplace that gives authors a better way to reach an audience and earn more revenue. They are at the forefront of a publishing renaissance. Not since the screw press has there been so much change in the industry. Change in the way they write, change in the way they read, change in the way they acquire books; whathasn't changed is the way that many publishers feel that they are the sole guardians at the gate. Thousands of great books are only in existence thanks to authors who had the courage to keep pushing, after tens, hundreds, of rejection letters. What good is writing the next great novel if nobody gets to read it? They created Leafless to get books into the hands of readers and let their voices be heard. Everybody has a voice, the author wants to be heard, and the reader wants to tell his friends about the next great book. | $330K | Seed | Feb 02, 2014 |  |
| Musistic | Musistic is an online music collaboration platform breaking down barriers to creativity. The company's disruptive, patent-pending technology allows creativity, a musical collaboration with anyone, anywhere, on almost any digital audio platform.Musistic brings musicians together from around the world to collaborate on projects, create songs,share files, and finish songs. Music allows digital audio workstation (DAW) users to collaborate remotely regardless of the platform they are using which makes distributed music creation possible without a change in workflow. | $15K | Seed | Feb 01, 2013 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- Start Co. — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Solidus Company](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/solidus-company) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Archer invest in?

Archer invests primarily in Audio, Music and Publishing startups, most often at Seed stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact Archer?

Public channels for Archer include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at Archer?

The team at Archer includes Gary Backaus (Chief Creative & Strategy Officer), Jay Cooper (SVP & Group Account Director) and Les Edwards (VP & CFO), among 8 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co