# Val Katayev

> Val Katayev is a Series A investor at MobileFuse (New York) backing SaaS and Software. See 5 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [MobileFuse](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mobilefuse)
- Location: New York, United States
- Total investments: 5
- Last investment: Jul 2012
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/valkatayev
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/valkatayev

Val Katayev is a serial entrepreneur, having founded and led four successful startups to hyper-growth centered around digital media in display, mobile, music, search and data. Two of these tech companies, ToneMedia (now Bandsintown Amplified) and ToneFuse resulted in being acquired by Lagardère Group. In addition to success in tech, Val is apioneer in the Marketplace Lending space as he later partnered with Prime Meridian Capital Management to help the firm grow it's AUM from $5M to $500M in 3 years.Operating and growing with capital efficiency is where Val excels. This management style generated over $100M through profits and exits, all before taking any venture capital.While at ToneMedia, Katayev grew it to a top 3 music property according to Comscore and developed ToneTargeting, a patent pending tech that evaluates consumer demo, buying habits and hobbies based on musical tastes. In 2009, Katayev founded ToneFuse, which he grew to become the world's largest ringtone marketing platform. Also in 2009, Katayev co-founded and laid the early foundation for MobileFuse, one of the leading mobile advertising companies that he still oversees. In 2001, Katayev founded Poise Media, an industry leader in performance and paid search marketing for 800+ clients including eBay, VistaPrint and Rhapsody, while still attending Baruch College.These days Val is an investor, board member and advisor in a number of companies. As always on the lookout for the next big project to dedicate himself to.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SaaS | 2 | 40% |
| Software | 2 | 40% |
| Audio | 1 | 20% |
| Local | 1 | 20% |
| Events | 1 | 20% |

15 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 1 | 20% |
| Series B | 1 | 20% |
| Series C | 1 | 20% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 20% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Signal360 (formerly Sonic Notify) | Signal360 is the leading in-venue mobile notification platform for real-time user engagement. Signal360's platform uses cross-platform patented inaudible-sound mobile notification technologies as well as the emerging BLE standard (full support for iBeacon and Android BLE) to wirelessly enable retail locations to interact with customersthrough existing consumer mobile apps, retailer-specific mobile apps, and/or custom created apps. | $4.3M | Series A | Jul 16, 2012 |  |
| Thismoment | Thismoment is a marketing technology company that enables the world’s biggest companies to connect with their target audiences in real time on any device. Through Thismoment Content Cloud, our digital storytelling platform, they enable effortless content curation, digital experience creation and sharing, content rights management and seamlessenterprise technology integrations. More than 150 top brands and agencies use Thismoment, including Coca-Cola, Intuit, Levi’s, Sephora, Fleishman Hillard and Digitas. Thismoment's vision is to give their customers endless opportunities to engage their customers with any content, anywhere. That’s no small feat, but after working with over 150 of the Fortune 500 brands since 2007, we think we’re in a unique position to make it happen. | $22M | Series C | Jun 13, 2012 |  |
| Thismoment | Thismoment is a marketing technology company that enables the world’s biggest companies to connect with their target audiences in real time on any device. Through Thismoment Content Cloud, our digital storytelling platform, they enable effortless content curation, digital experience creation and sharing, content rights management and seamlessenterprise technology integrations. More than 150 top brands and agencies use Thismoment, including Coca-Cola, Intuit, Levi’s, Sephora, Fleishman Hillard and Digitas. Thismoment's vision is to give their customers endless opportunities to engage their customers with any content, anywhere. That’s no small feat, but after working with over 150 of the Fortune 500 brands since 2007, we think we’re in a unique position to make it happen. | $7.3M |  | Nov 15, 2011 |  |
| Mojiva | Mojiva Inc. is the parent company of the Mojiva, the mobile ad network and the Mocean Mobile, the mobile ad serving platform. It is led by a team of advertising and media veterans from Google, DoubleClick, Yahoo, Nokia and AdMob, with more than 100 years of collective experience in mobile marketing and technology.Mojiva, Inc. provides productsand solutions that not only fuel the mobile advertising marketplace by bringing mobile ad buyers together with mobile content sellers, but that also solve unique challenges in the mobile marketing space. Solutions include tools to market your products and services to mobile users, monetize your mobile content, enable your global ad sales team to capitalize on an expanded media mix, control your inventory, or mobilize the brands your agency is working with. | $7M | Series B | Apr 28, 2010 |  |
| Thismoment | Thismoment is a marketing technology company that enables the world’s biggest companies to connect with their target audiences in real time on any device. Through Thismoment Content Cloud, our digital storytelling platform, they enable effortless content curation, digital experience creation and sharing, content rights management and seamlessenterprise technology integrations. More than 150 top brands and agencies use Thismoment, including Coca-Cola, Intuit, Levi’s, Sephora, Fleishman Hillard and Digitas. Thismoment's vision is to give their customers endless opportunities to engage their customers with any content, anywhere. That’s no small feat, but after working with over 150 of the Fortune 500 brands since 2007, we think we’re in a unique position to make it happen. | $3M |  | Sep 26, 2008 |  |

5 of 5 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Sierra Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sierra-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Bertelsmann](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bertelsmann) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Cantora](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cantora) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [BYU Cougar Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cougar-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Digital Entertainment Ventures (DEV)](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dev) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Pelion Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/pelion-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About MobileFuse

VC Fund



1 contacts available at MobileFuse.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Val Katayev | Founder & Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/val-katayev |

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## FAQ

### What does Val Katayev invest in?

Val Katayev invests primarily in SaaS, Software and Audio startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 5 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 Val Katayev last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Val Katayev closed in Jul 2012. 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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