Nima Taghavi
Nima Taghavi (born July 15, 1970, Iran) is an Iranian-American entrepreneur[1] known for creating Crave Entertainment, an American video game developer[2] who published games for Dreamcast, Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox, and Xbox 360 publications. In 2005.[3] He was also given national recognition for his work with the Clinton Foundation.[4]
Career
In 1993, Taghavi founded SVG Distribution Inc, a video game wholesale distribution company located in Los Angeles, California.[2]
In 1997, Taghavi founded Crave Entertainment, a video game publisher (and sister company to SVG).[5]
In 1999, Taghavi founded Crave Entertainment Group to become the umbrella company for the SVG and Crave companies. In 2005 SVG and Crave where sold, under the umbrella of Crave Entertainment Group,[3] to The Handleman Company[6] (NYESE: HDL).[7] Taghavi left the following year in 2006. At the time of sale, Crave Entertainment Group was the largest privately held company in the video game industry with revenue of approximately $300 million[8]
In 2009 Taghavi founded Solutions 2 GO LLC (U.S.),[9][10] a video game distribution company as a value-added sales, marketing, and logistics company of video game entertainment products for the Sony PSP system, Sony PlayStation3 system, Sony PlayStation4 system, Sony PlayStation5 system, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox One, Microsoft Xbox One X video game entertainment system. Solutions 2 GO (Canada) was the 2009 recipient of the Ontario Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award for the category of business-to-business products and services.[11] Solutions 2 GO made Deloitte Canada's Top 50 Best Managed Companies for the consecutive years between 2009 and 201.7[12] In 2014 Solutions 2 GO became the exclusive distributor for Sony's PlayStation brand in Latin America and in 2015 its exclusive distributor in Mexico.[13] After reaching well over $1B USD in revenue between the Solutions 2 GO companies in 2016,[14] Taghavi sold his interest in the combined companies to his Canadian partners in 2017.
In 2013 Taghavi co-founded the real estate investment management firm BKM Capital Partners.[15] BKM Capital Partners is a firm specializing in the acquisition and improvement of multi-tenant business parks.[16] Taghavi was joined by John Mack, the former CEO & Chairman of the Board at Morgan Stanley as an investor, business partner, and board advisor.[17] BKM Capital Partners raised its first institutional fund in 2016 with $105 million in capital commitments,[18] focused on industrial properties across the western United States. In 2017, The Canyon Catalyst Fund, a discretionary separate account managed by Canyon Partners Real Estate on behalf of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), entered into a joint venture with BKM Capital Partner as part of the emerging manager platform.[19] In 2018, BKM Capital Partners was recognized as one of the “Best Places to Work in Orange County,” by the Orange County Business Journal.[20] In 2019, BKM Capital Partners raised $382m for its second US industrial investment fund.[21][22] Throughout Taghavi's tenure as chairman, BKM Capital Partners grew to nearly $2 billion in assets under management for large institutional investors.[23] In 2020, Inc. magazine announced that BKM Capital Partners is No. 1,040 on its annual Inc. 5000 list due to its three-year revenue growth of 446%. The Inc. 5000 List refers to the 5,000 fastest-growing, privately held companies in America, which celebrates entrepreneurial success, leadership, and innovation[24] In late 2020, Taghavi and Mack sold their collective majority ownership in BKM.
In 2018, Taghavi co-founded VoltEdge, a consumer brand company specializing in the design, development, and manufacturing of high-performance video game accessories sold through national brick and mortar and e-commerce retailers. In May 2020, VoltEdge was acquired by GameXpress, headquartered in Mexico City with operations in the United States. GameXpress is a leader in the distribution/retail/publishing of video games, accessories, and hardware in the Latin American markets.[25]
References
- "Nima Taghavi, BKM Capital Partners LP: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- "Exclusive Interview with Crave Entertainment". IGN.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Crave Gets a New President". IGN.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Board of Directors". Clinton Foundation. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
- "Crave Entertainment Group Inc Company Profile". Bloomberg.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Billboard. Billboard. November 5, 2005. p. 14.
- "Handleman to buy Crave Entertainment Group for $95m". Crains Detroit.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Handleman Acquires Crave Entertainment Group". Games Industry.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Solutions 2 GO Launch". Games Industry.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "About Us Solutions 2 GO". Solutions 2 GO.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Tom Jenkins Earns Tops Spot as Ontario E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year". Newswire.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "About Us Solutions 2 GO".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Delivering Your A Game". Advantage Magazine.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "About Us Solutions 2 GO". Solutions 2 GO.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Nima Taghavi BKM Capital Partners LP Profile". Bloomberg.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Capital Partners".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "John Mack Joins Board of West Coast Firm". PERE.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Capital Partners Raises $105m for Industrial Vehicle". IPE Real Assets.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Partners with Canyon Real Estate". Patch.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "2018 Best Places to Work OC Rankings". OCBJ.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Capital Partners Raises $382m". IPE Real Assets.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Acquires Multi State Industrial Portfolio for $425m". Connect CRE.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Raises $382m for Second US Industrial Vehicle". IPE Real Assets.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "BKM Capital Partners Inc 5000". Inc.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "VoltEdge Acquired by Industry Veteran GameXpress". WFMZ.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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