--- description: The Oscar winner just sunk some cash into the Series A funding round of a startup called Qloo, a "cultural recommendations engine." title: Leo DiCaprio Just Invested in a Startup with a Wacky Name image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt167578f10954f9fe/6988983fe20a87c34ea9142a/leonardo-dicaprio-press-conf.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Leonardo DiCaprio Just Invested in a Startup with a Ridiculous Name  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2016 9:00 PM CUT  BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 20: (CHINA OUT) Actor Leonardo DiCaprio attends a press conference of new movie "The Revenant" on March 20, 2016 in Beijing, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images) BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 20: (CHINA OUT) Actor Leonardo DiCaprio attends a press conference of new movie "The Revenant" on March 20, 2016 in Beijing, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)VCG — Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 16, 2016 9:00 PM CUT Fun fact: Leonardo DiCaprio, everyone’s [favorite Oscar winner](http://time.com/4311662/leonardo-dicaprio-selfie/?iid=sr-link10 "undefined") and climate change activist, is also a low-key businessman. The actor has invested in everything from a [garbage company](http://fortune.com/2015/09/18/leonardo-dicaprio-uber-trash/ "undefined") to an Amazonian tea purveyor and the popular mattress startup Casper, as [documented on Crunchbase](https://www.crunchbase.com/person/leonardo-dicaprio/investments "undefined"). His latest move involves sinking some cash into [Qloo](http://developer.qloo.com/#/ "undefined"), a startup that bills itself as a “cultural recommendations engine.” So how does it work? Qloo says it has “mapped the taste genome” by combing through massive amounts of data. Then, it spits out answers to burning questions from brands and advertisers about the preferences of their target audiences when it comes to things like food, music and TV. For instance, [as TechCrunch reports](https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/15/leonardo-dicaprio-barry-sternlicht-back-qloo-a-cultural-recommendation-engine/ "undefined"), Qloo can tell you the favorite music artists of fans of the Golden State Warriors vs. fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s no small thing: it helps advertisers ensure they’re marketing the right things to both groups, collectively or separately, based on what they do and don’t share. (For instance, Warriors fans like Drake and Cavs fans like Li’l Wayne, but both groups like pizza and SportsCenter.) The Series A round, which DiCaprio participated in, raised $4.5 million for the company. DiCaprio certainly has eclectic taste in investments; only time will tell if this endeavor will reap the same kinds of rewards he’s been bringing in with his work on the big screen. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4372249/leonardo-dicaprio-startup-qloo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4372249/leonardo-dicaprio-startup-qloo/"},"headline":"Leonardo DiCaprio Just Invested in a Startup with a Ridiculous Name","datePublished":"2016-06-16T21:00:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:33:28.004Z","description":"The Oscar winner sunk some cash into \"cultural recommendations engine\" Qloo","url":"https://time.com/4372249/leonardo-dicaprio-startup-qloo/","keywords":["celebrities","Newsfeed","Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt167578f10954f9fe/6988983fe20a87c34ea9142a/leonardo-dicaprio-press-conf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt167578f10954f9fe/6988983fe20a87c34ea9142a/leonardo-dicaprio-press-conf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Leonardo DiCaprio Attends \"The Revenant\" Press Conference In Beijing","caption":"Leonardo DiCaprio Attends \"The Revenant\" Press Conference In Beijing","creditText":"VCG — Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4372249/leonardo-dicaprio-startup-qloo/","name":"Leonardo DiCaprio Just Invested in a Startup with a Ridiculous Name"}}]}] ```