Porn Valley- A former hedge fund manager in New York, Francis Koenig [pictured] moved to L.A. last year with one goal: directing traditional money to a nontraditional investment.
That nontraditional investment was porn.
“The industry itself is becoming more mainstream,” he said. “It’s dropped some of the barriers. It’s still not like investing in manufacturing or blue-chip companies, but that’s part of what creates the opportunity.”
His Beverly Hills-based company is called AdultVest, and he said it’s the first and only one geared toward matching investors and successful entrepreneurs with growing adult-entertainment companies and adult entertainers looking to start up, expand, acquire or be acquired.
His first convention will be later this year in Hollywood, and he’s looking for actors and actresses who want to fund a production or other venture to submit a proposal to his Web site, adultvest.com.
“In many cases, this type of opportunity receives funding much faster than other more complex businesses,” the site says. “However, if you want to be taken seriously, you must submit complete and detailed information. You must have a plan, even if it is a simple one.”
Koenig’s reasoning is simple, too. Most of the smaller companies rely on friends and family money, not institutional financing.
“And they have absolutely no institutional financial participation, no venture funds, angle funds or private equity funds for this industry,” he said.
The fund he’s putting together has some tough financial qualifications.
Investors must:
Earn an annual income of $200,000 a year.
Have a combined household income of $300,000 a year.
Have a net worth of at least $1 million.
The fundraising started last fall and Koenig said the money is coming in at a steady pace and there are some high-profile participants, though he declined to name names.
And there is this to consider.
“There are 6 billion people on the planet and every one of them require food, shelter, water, air and reproduction … There will never be a replacement for the human desire to reproduce, and it’s an industry that just won’t go away.”