Emiliano Calemzuk, Luis Balaguer, Sofia Vergara in Digital Venture

LOS ANGELES: Emiliano Calemzuk, former CEO of Shine Americas and president of Fox TV Studios; Luis Balaguer, founder of Latin World Entertainment; and Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara have partnered to launch Raze, a new digital venture with a Latin focus.

Raze has several television shows in development with both traditional networks and SVOD partners, including a scripted series based on the life of football legend Diego Armando Maradona. Also in development is a soapy young adult-oriented hour-long drama series based on the hit Wattpad novel Mi Hermanastro (My Stepbrother). Additional projects in development include a series on the life of Latino hip-hop icon Don Omar.

Later this year, Raze will debut its mobile, video-first destination that will be a hub for news, lifestyle, beauty and more. Raze’s first show, Her Name Was Dolores: The Jenni I Knew, produced in partnership with BTF and Dhana Media, has premiered on Univision.

Raze also closed a Series A round of financing from Greycroft Partners, Raine Ventures and UTA. Brent Weinstein, partner and head of digital media at UTA, and Mark Terbeek, partner at Greycroft Partners, have joined the board.

“When we began talking about what a modern media company with a Latin edge would look like, it was clear that we had a significant opportunity to create something new and fresh,” said Calemzuk, co-founder and CEO of Raze. “With such a stellar group of accomplished partners, we are in a unique position to do exactly that on a large scale. It is rewarding to be creating stories that reflect the broad array of experiences that Latinos have in the United States and we want Raze to be the home for programming that serves this growing culture.”

“With talent connecting directly with audiences, we have an opportunity to provide a unique and fresh platform to a new generation of mobile-first users that consume video stories with a hearty appetite,” said Balaguer, co-founder of Raze. “Raze will be a great tool for advertisers and products to connect with transforming Latino audiences, and will benefit from the shifting of audiences from traditional platforms to mobile video.”

“The U.S. Hispanic audience is one of the fastest growing and important demographics for programmers and advertisers, and we jumped at the opportunity to work with Sofia, Luis and Emiliano to build a dynamic new media company to create and deliver premium programming to that key demographic,” said Weinstein.

“We are very excited to partner with the Raze team and believe this is a unique opportunity to build an important new media business in the Latin market,” added Terbeek. “The team has a proven ability to create valuable content franchises that resonate with audiences worldwide, and they have developed unparalleled talent relationships in their segment over the last few decades which would be practically impossible to replicate.”