Ashton Kutcher puts Berlin tech companies on the map
Actors Ashton Kutcher (L) and Jon Cryer of the television show “Two And A Half Men” speak during the CBS portion of the 2012 Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on Jan. 11, 2012 in Pasadena, California.
MALMO, Sweden — Ashton Kutcher has invested in his third Berlin-based start-up, proving that the tech credentials of the Hollywood star stretch far beyond being the first person to cross 1m followers on Twitter.
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The star has put up part of a $1.4 million seed investment into Gidsy, a social travel start-up that allows locals to offer paid, customized tours to visiting tourists, among other services.
This follows Kutcher’s investment last year in Soundcloud, a sort of audio Youtube, which has since gained a valuation of some $200 million. He has also invested in Amen, a service that allows users to argue and vote on the goodness and badness of literally everything.
The growing number of investments in Berlin start-ups signals the arrival of the German capital as one of the global centers for tech entrepreneurs in Europe.
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Kutcher, who plays a suicidal tech billionaire in the show Two and a Half Men, entered the tech world when he joined the board of Ooma, a VOIP provider in 2007.
He formed his start-up investment vehicle, A-Grade Investments, with Guy Oseary, Madonna’s long-term business partner, whose Untitled Entertainment manages Kutcher, and the billionaire investor Ron Burkle.