# Google Digital News Initiative

> Google Digital News Initiative is a VC fund in Mountain View backing News and Digital Media. See 5 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Mountain View, United States
- Total investments: 5
- Last investment: Jun 2021
- Lead investor: 60%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/google-news-initiative/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/GoogleNewsInit?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
- Website: https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com

Google Digital News Initiative is a VC fund in Mountain View focused on News and Digital Media. The Digital News Initiative (DNI) is a partnership between Google and news publishers in Europe to support high quality journalism through technology and innovation.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| News | 3 | 60% |
| Digital Media | 3 | 60% |
| Journalism | 2 | 40% |
| Audio | 1 | 20% |
| Video | 1 | 20% |

10 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 4 | 80% |
| Seed | 1 | 20% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Egypt | 1 | 20% |
| Canada | 1 | 20% |
| Nigeria | 1 | 20% |
| South Africa | 1 | 20% |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of | 1 | 20% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Habari RDC | Habari RDC is an association of Congolese bloggers whose objective is to bring together and make heard the various voices of the youth of the DRCongo. |  | Grant | Jun 07, 2021 |  |
| Olduvai Pty | Olduvai Pty is a DataLite platform provides essential and entertaining news to millions of people in southern Africa who are currently excluded from news due to prohibitively high data costs. |  | Grant | Jun 07, 2021 |  |
| Eco-Nai+ | Eco-Nai+ is Nigeria's first digital geo-journalism platform, powered by Google. |  | Grant | Jun 07, 2021 |  |
| Egab | Egab specialize in solutions journalism. Egab helps local journalists to publish in reputable media outlets. |  | Grant | Jun 07, 2021 |  |
| Indiegraf | Indiegraf provides support, assistance, and resources to independent news outlets. It offers various services to help companies or organizations start their own digital news system. Indiegraf is based in Vancouver, Canada. |  | Seed | May 27, 2020 |  |

5 of 5 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Inspirit Foundation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/inspirit-foundation) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Meta Journalism Project — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Scottish Enterprise](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/scottish-enterprise) — VC Fund
- [Foundation for Innovation and Technology (FIT)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/foundation-pour-l-innovation-technologique) — VC Fund
- [Business Finland](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/tekes) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Google Digital News Initiative invest in?

Google Digital News Initiative invests primarily in News, Digital Media and Journalism startups, most often at Grant and Seed stage. Most of the 5 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Egypt. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Google Digital News Initiative last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Google Digital News Initiative closed in Jun 2021. Shizune tracks 5 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### 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.

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