# Josh Berman

> Josh Berman is a seed investor at Slingshot Labs (Santa Monica) backing Local and Music. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Slingshot Labs](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/slingshot-labs)
- Location: Santa Monica, United States
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Aug 2011
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshbermantheluckygroup/

Josh Berman is a seed investor at Slingshot Labs in Santa Monica focused on Local and Music. Currently Josh is the Co-Founder and CEO of BeachMint, a next generation eCommerce company based in Santa Monica, CA. The company is focused on social and curated commerce and is backed by New Enterprise Associates and Anthem Ventures.Most recently Josh was the President of Slingshot Labs, a division of dedicated to building new Internet companies. Slingshot Labs employs a portfolio approach to the development and launch of businesses, and plans to nurture four to five ventures per year.Josh Berman is a co-founder and was the chief operating officer of Berman formerly co-founded and managed successful Internet companies, ResponseBase Marketing, and Xdrive Technologies. Prior to his start up life, Berman was a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.Berman received his MBA from the University of Southern California, his BA from UC- Santa Barbara, and is a CPA in the State of California.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Local | 1 | 50% |
| Music | 1 | 50% |
| Video | 1 | 50% |
| EdTech | 1 | 50% |
| Software | 1 | 50% |

9 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 50% |
| Series A | 1 | 50% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| TakeLessons | TakeLessons is the trusted marketplace for finding online and local instructors and taking online classes across a wide array of subjects ranging foreign languages, math and photography to music, dance and acting. Instructors rely on TakeLessons to simplify marketing and manage their business with integrated scheduling, billing, payment, andcommunication tools that work seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices. | $6M | Series A | Aug 03, 2011 |  |
| TakeLessons | TakeLessons is the trusted marketplace for finding online and local instructors and taking online classes across a wide array of subjects ranging foreign languages, math and photography to music, dance and acting. Instructors rely on TakeLessons to simplify marketing and manage their business with integrated scheduling, billing, payment, andcommunication tools that work seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices. | $1.8M | Seed | Oct 01, 2009 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Crosslink Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/crosslink-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Shepherd Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/shepherd-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Uncork Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/softtech-vc) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Slingshot Labs

VC Fund · Santa Monica, United States

Slingshot Labs is a startup incubator funded and wholly owned by News Corporation with a focus on fostering applications for MySpace and other web ventures. Slingshot Labs has the goal of nurturing 4-5 businesses per year. Slingshots companies include: Daily Fill

5 contacts available at Slingshot Labs.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| James Philo | Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/james-philo |
| Josh Berman | President | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/josh-berman |
| Matt Fojut | General Counsel, Head of Business Affairs | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/matt-fojut |
| Steve Kaschinske | Co-Founder, Project Manager, Developer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/steve-kaschinske |
| Willie Belk | Director of Product | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/willie-belk |

## Similar investors

### Similar industry
- [Warner Music Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/warner-music-group) — VC Fund
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Goodwater Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/goodwater-capital) — VC Fund

### Similar stage
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### Similar country
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
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## Featured in investor lists
- [Local Angel Investors](https://shizune.co/investors/local-angel-investors)
- [Music Angel Investors in United States](https://shizune.co/investors/music-angel-investors-united-states)
- [Music Angel Investors](https://shizune.co/investors/music-angel-investors)

## FAQ

### What does Josh Berman invest in?

Josh Berman invests primarily in Local, Music and Video startups, most often at Seed and Series A 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.

### When did Josh Berman last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Josh Berman closed in Aug 2011. Shizune tracks 2 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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