KQED enters startup game to boost media Bay Area public media outlet KQED will invest $1.25 million in an incubator designed to foster innovation in today's unstable media industry. The new startup incubator - firms that provide investment and resources for tiny companies - will look for ideas that create a more "informed, connected and empowered society," says Matter Ventures CEO Corey Ford. The money for the public broadcaster's investment will come from its reserve funds, he says, which it uses each year for capital improvements like a new transmission tower or upgrading software. Matter Ventures will search for new business enterprises, such as early stage mobile applications and content platforms, and provide them $50,000 and a work space in SoMa, San Francisco's trendy startup neighborhood. Public Radio Exchange, a national consortium of public stations, will provide strategy and management support to Matter Ventures and allow KQED to be "firewalled," Boland said, from the fund's decisions and operations.