Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

It was only a year ago that many in the Venture Capital industry were predicting that “winter was coming” and to be fair the author of this post was chief amongst them. Yet as we enter February 2017 the VC funding markets are booming, Snap, Inc has filed for its IPO, AppDynamics was just purchased for $3.7

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JUNE 2, 2021

Los Angeles-based Master Ventures said today that it has launched a new, $30M venture capital fund, called the Master Ventures Polkadot VC Fund. The new fund is led by founder and CEO Kyle Chasse, who is based in Los Angeles, per his LinkedIn profile.

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Venture Capital Funding Los Angeles Capital 100

TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

New research has found that San Francisco and London have become two of the world’s leading hubs for VC investment into tech solutions that address one or more of the 17 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), more commonly referred to as “Impact Tech” They are followed by Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Shanghai and Beijing.

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MARCH 16, 2017

Los Angeles-based Embark Ventures , a new venture capital fund led by Yipeng Zhao and venture capitalist Peter Lee, is raising a $50M venture capital fund, according to a recent SEC filing by the firm. The firm has yet to announce any details of its funding. READ MORE>>.

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JANUARY 20, 2022

Los Angeles-based Untapped Ventures said on Wednesday that it has launched a new, early-stage venture capital fund, which it says invests in companies that "help people live the best version of themselves, personally and professionally." The size of the new fund was not announced.

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APRIL 1, 2019

founded by Michael Jones, Peter Pham, Gregory Gilman, and Tom Dare, appears to be launching efforts to raise a new fund. The firm already has an existing venture capital fund which invests in its portfolio companies. Santa Monica-based startup studio Science Inc. READ MORE>>.

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Dollar Shave Club Venture Capital Capital Funding 140

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 29, 2014

It’s not hard to find people willing to write the narrative that “venture capital is not an asset class” or “venture capital has performed terribly.” It had an influence on the people who fund our industry in a negative way as many asset managers who fund our industry read this flawed report.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2016

The funding environment for tech startups is an ever shifting ground as we go through predictable shifts that go hand-in-hand with the slowing of the overall market. In other words, it isn’t that VCs suddenly got smart, it’s that the costs of starting a company went down dramatically. Explosion in Seed Funds.

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OCTOBER 17, 2017

Illumina Ventures , the early-stage venture capital investor which was founded by San Diego-based life sciences equipment maker Illumina , says it has raised $230M for its first fund. The fund launched in summer of 2016 with $100M from Illumina. The venture investment fund was founded by Nicholas Naclerio, Ph.D.,

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FEBRUARY 9, 2021

Sherman Oaks-based Joystick Ventures, a new venture capital fund looking to invest in the videogame industry, has raised $3M as part of an ongoing, $10M venture capital fundraising, according to a regulatory filing by the firm.

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 23, 2014

There has been much discussion in the past few years of the changing structure of the venture capital industry. The rise of “micro VCs” or seed-stage funds. The rise of alternative sources of capital (crowd funding and the like). ” Stated simply – if you seed funded Uber at $4.5m

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Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Seed Funding 398

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

Many observers of the venture capital industry have questioned whether its best days are behind it. I can’t help feel a bit of rear-view mirror analysis in all of “VC model is broken” bears in our industry. Cloud computing and the open source movements have brought down the costs of starting a company by more than 90%.

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Venture Capital Capital Technical Review Startup 347

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. I always tell founders … “An investors job is to deploy capital and make a return. an investment in your company. This is where most founders err.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 28, 2018

There’s a quick litmus-test conversation any early-stage VC will have with the founder and it’s one that you should be as prepared for as your elevator pitch. It goes something like this … VC: “How much money are you raising?” Founder: “$8–10 million” VC: “What’s your current burn rate?” A VC is looking for reasonableness.

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JUNE 29, 2017

We've summarized the funds that have announced new funds in the last nine months or so, or that are in the midst of raising funds--a total of more than $1086 million in total funds. List ordered by fund size). Upfront Ventures. Greycroft Ventures. Fund size: $230M fund. Okapi Ventures.

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TechCrunch LA

NOVEMBER 10, 2018

Jason Rowley is a venture capital and technology reporter for Crunchbase News. The SaaS VC gap: China & other markets trail the US. Early-stage SaaS VC slip snaps recovery as public software stocks soar. But how do these cities stack up as clusters for companies raising supergiant rounds? Contributor.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Venice, California-based Riot Ventures , led by Stephan Marcus and William Coffield, has launched an effort to raise $75M for its second venture capital fund, the firm disclosed this week in a regulatory filing.

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Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca For the first 5 years or so after I became a VC I didn’t talk much about what I thought a VC should be excellent at since frankly I wasn’t sure. It’s easy to think the role of a VC is to have strong opinions about markets, trends, tech dynamics and so forth. The role of VC is sparring partner.

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Startups related to the many University of California campuses in Southern California may soon have a new source of funding: The University of California itself, via a new, $250M venture capital. The fund would seek to invest in companies started on campus, from University research, and from students. READ MORE>>.

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Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 7, 2009

This is part of my series on Raising Venture Capital. I’m sure I’ll spark the ire of some VC’s for saying so, but there is certainly such a thing as black-out days in venture capital. It is very difficult to raising venture capital between November 15 – January 7th.

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Both Sides of the Table

MAY 30, 2018

One of the hardest things about the fund-raising process for entrepreneurs is that you’re trying to raise money from people who have “asymmetric information.” VC firms see thousands of deals and have a refined sense of how the market is valuing deals because they get price signals across all of these deals. So why does a VC ask you?

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JULY 7, 2021

Ventura-based advertising technology developer The Trade Desk is launching its own venture capital arm, and has made its first investment, the company said this morning. The company said that the new investment fund, TD7, will invest in open Internet startups.

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TechCrunch LA

MAY 31, 2022

Bonfire Ventures , a Los Angeles venture capital firm, invests in seed-stage business-to-business software companies and aims to change the odds so that more than the average 33% of companies in this sector make it to Series A. It says over 85% of its portfolio companies raise follow-on funding — a collective $1.15

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Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 18, 2017

Union Square Ventures (USV) has been one of the most successful venture capital firms of the past 10–15 years and continues to be a leader in our industry. Lindel is no stranger to thorny venture capital issues — he was arguably amongst the most successful LPs of his generation. Maybe that’s USV, too.

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Venture Capital Funding Capital Startup 161

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2014

We’ve been dying to tell you all for a while that we had raised a new venture capital fund and of course given SEC filing requirements the story was somewhat already scooped by the always-in-the-know Dan Primack a few weeks ago. If you want to understand how the VC industry is changing there is a great primer in the link.

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Venture Capital Funding Technical Review Startup 396

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2009

This is part of my ongoing series about Raising Venture Capital. A few years ago it became fashionable for large VC’s to do seed funding. Some larger VCs felt they were being “scooped&# by some younger, nimbler and smaller VCs. I told entrepreneurs that it was a bit of a Faustian bargain.

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JANUARY 29, 2018

Los Angeles-based Bonfire Ventures said this morning that it has officially launched with its first fund, a new $60M fund aimed at early stage startups.

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NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Irvine-based videogame accessory and hardware maker Razer is planning on launching a new, corporate venture capital fund, starting next year, according to a report. Razer, which is led by Min-Liang Tan, reportedly plans to invest in companies, which it plans to incubate and help with its international business.

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DECEMBER 23, 2020

Here, we have Greg Martin, Founder and Managing Partner of Archer Venture Capital (www.archervc.com). What was the biggest news for you/your company this year? It's been a tough year for many due to the pandemic; how have you or your company adapted to the business environment? Contact our editors for details.

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Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

On the phone … Me: So, you raised venture capital? Him: But when I raised my first round we didn’t know how to price the company. Me: There is no rational explanation for valuations of A round companies by ANY objective financial measure. We raised a seed round. About $1 million. Me: At what price?

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Venture Capital Capital Pricing Doc 417

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2011

In this three-part series I will explore the ways that the Venture Capital industry has changed over the past 5 years that I would argue are a direct result of changes in the software industry, not the other way around. I will argue that LPs who invest in VC funds will also need to adjust a bit as well.

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JULY 3, 2017

The true origins of funding in two, Los Angeles area companies in late June, Gamemine , and BlockFraud , has been solved by Dan Primack of Axios. According to Primack, Gamemine's $20M investment round was actually self funded by CEO Daniel Starr, with family and friends.

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TechCrunch LA

JULY 3, 2019

Upfront Ventures , a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm, has filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise its third growth-stage investment fund. Though the firm typically invests at the seed and Series A, capital from Upfront Growth III will be used for follow-on or late-stage deals.

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Venture Capital Funding Los Angeles Invest 193

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JUNE 17, 2021

The Alliance for Southern California Innovation said on Thursday that it is launching a new program, the SoCal Venture Pipeline. According to the company, the new program will provide companies that have demonstrated clear market traction and provides targeted introductions to venture funds.

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Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 13, 2018

One of the hardest things to know when you’re new to fund raising is what you’re supposed to send to an investor, when and will they keep your information confidential. As a VC and former entrepreneur let me offer you some advice. This is part of a series on how to improve your fund raising game. The key is WHAT you send.

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JANUARY 22, 2019

This morning's interview is with Kevin O'Connor , a longtime investor and serial entrepreneur, who is now running venture capital investment firm ScOp Venture Capital. Congrats on the new name for your venture capital firm. What types of companies are you making investments in?

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TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019

Most of the venture capital firms covered in TechCrunch and other tech publications compete for a spot on the cap table of the hottest Bay Area, New York or Los Angeles companies of the moment. Few seek out companies in Indianapolis, Milwaukee or Tampa. Today, Washington, DC-based Revolution is announcing its latest fund.

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