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JUNE 27, 2013

Los Angeles-based venture capital investor GRP Partners announced this morning that it has raised a fourth fund, worth $200M, and also renamed the firm Upfront Ventures. GRP has been quite active in the local technology industry, having founded accelerator LaunchpadLA. READ MORE>>.

GRP Partners 164

GRP Partners Funding CitySearch Venture Capital 164

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APRIL 15, 2010

Southern California venture capital investments totaled $686.5M According to the report, released today, Southern California investments totaled $686.5M Southern California's investment totals bucked the national trend, which found that there was a 9 percent drop in dollars to $4.7 of the total invested in Q1.

Southern California 208

Southern California Orange County Invest GRP Partners 208

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2010

One of the questions I’m most often asked is, “what’s it like being a VC?&# I’ve been a VC for nearly 3 years now. I always start my answer to this question with, “you’d have to be a pretty big baby to complain about being a VC.&# And the VC job has plenty of admin and minutiae.

Venture Capital 312

Venture Capital Technical Review Startup Entrepreneur 312

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

Lots of discussion these days about the changes in the VC industry. The VC industry grew dramatically as a result of the Internet bubble - Before the Internet bubble the people who invested in VC funds (called LPs or Limited Partners) put about $50 billion into the industry and by 2001 this had grown precipitously to around $250 billion.

Venture Capital 311

Venture Capital Startup Seed Funding Rustic Canyon 311

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

We have significant VC commitments (listed below) – every entering company will get $50,000 in funding, mentorship from top VCs and successful entrepreneurs plus free office space. To provide an opportunity for VCs and senior executives to engage with the community by giving back rather than just attending more cocktail parties.

Venture Capital 287

Venture Capital Funding Startup GRP Partners 287

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SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners has just chalked up an IPO for its portfolio, with the IPO this morning of Redwood City-based Qualys. GRP Partners owns 8.3% GRP's investment in Qualys is overseen by Yves Sisteron. Qualys priced its IPO last night at $12.00 READ MORE>>.

GRP Partners 133

GRP Partners Pricing Venture Capital Los Angeles 133

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I came across this blog post about getting a computer science degree as the best degree for getting into venture capital or working at a VC-backed start up. I just completed an exercise where I went out to hire a new associate for my VC firm, GRP Partners. I had to laugh a bit reading it. So back to MBAs.

Startup 337

Startup Venture Capital Study Course 337

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 12, 2013

It is with great pleasure that I can finally announce that we have added Greg Bettinelli as a partner at GRP Partners. This is exactly the brand that GRP Partners wants to embody. When I think about what defines us as a VC I think: Operationally knowledgeable / strong startup competence.

Venture Capital 360

Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup Invest 360

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2010

The latest numbers from the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data from Thomson Reuters, were released this morning, finding that there was $587.8M invested in Southern California in Q4. was invested in the region. in investments.

Southern California 154

Southern California Venture Capital Invest Orange County 154

socalTECH

JULY 19, 2011

Southern California companies raised $739M in venture capital in Q2 of 2011, according to the latest numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) based on data from Thomson Reuters. in funding, and San Diego $198.18M in investments. billion invested across 814 deals.

Southern California 167

Southern California Venture Capital Orange County Rustic Canyon 167

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 1, 2010

There has been much discussion about VCs doing seed funding in the past year. I’ve written about it myself (Is VC Seed Funding Dead?) and (Is There Really a Signaling Problem with VC Seed Funding?). There is a structural reason that VCs are investing at early stages, 2. Short summary of my posts: 1.

Seed Funding 298

Seed Funding Funding Venture Capital GRP Partners 298

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JULY 13, 2009

This morning's interview is with Mark Suster , a venture capitalist at GRP Partners (www.grpvc.com). GRP has just recently closed on a new $200M fund, and Mark has been one of the more active venture capitalists in the Los Angeles area in recent months. We invested in Overture, which was sold for $1.2

GRP Partners 157

GRP Partners Southern California Santa Barbara Rustic Canyon 157

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JANUARY 17, 2013

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report were released today, finding that a total of $683.7M was invested across Southern California in Q4 of 2012. The funding brings Southern California's total 2012 investments to $3.2 billion in venture capital.

Southern California 237

Southern California Orange County GRP Partners San Diego 237

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OCTOBER 18, 2012

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report finds that companies here in Southern California raised $695.4M billion has been invested in the region via venture capital. billion in investments; followed by New England, with $826.1M in investments.

Southern California 210

Southern California GRP Partners Funding Orange County 210

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2013

But less as a complaint and more as advice to younger networkers, the more you invest in relationships the more you will get when you need. It’s why I talk about building VC relationships early – Lines, Not Dots. Fill your VC good will, build relationships, be helpful to them not just asking for things. Be helpful.

Venture Capital 407

Venture Capital Press GRP Partners Blogging 407

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JUNE 27, 2013

If you’ve been following the press about VC funds you’ll know this is no small feat. Perhaps the biggest piece of new news is that after 17 years of operations we’ve changed our name from GRP Partners to Upfront Ventures. Our portfolio companies value us as sparring partners. What’s up with that?

Funding 343

Funding Santa Monica Venture Capital Startup 343

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 17, 2011

I am a big believer in VC pitches that the bio slide should come up front. The short answer is that by knowing the key members of the management team the VC firm can quickly identify strengths on your time and know whether you have some competitive advantage in your chose field relative to other people with whom you will compete.

Slides 296

Slides GRP Partners Venture Capital Writing 296

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MAY 19, 2010

Our guest this week on #TWiVC was Dana Settle , partner at Greycroft Partners , a venture capital firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Greycroft is an early-stage VC. Closing a VC fund in 2009/10 is a major achievement in and of itself. Total raised: $16.5mm. Read more: VentureBeat.

Venture Capital 240

Venture Capital Startup Platform Technical Review 240

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FEBRUARY 21, 2010

One of the investment themes I’ve been focused on in the past 3 years has been Performance-Based Marketing. When I started investing the US advertising market was $300 billion with only 10% of it ($30 billion) of it being online and measurable. I hope to announce one investment in this space in the next few months.

Advertising 284

Advertising Invest RSS CPC 284

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 24, 2012

He knows every startup & VC in town.” I told him that our market was absolutely booming and was worthy of a commensurate investment. Invest they have. They scooped up none other than David Hernand who will join the practice as managing partner. ” He was generous with his time with me and helpful.

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Startup Los Angeles GRP Partners 299

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2012

The latest numbers from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree report finds that companies here in Southern California raised $695.4M billion has been invested in the region via venture capital. billion in investments; followed by New England, with $826.1M in investments.

Southern California 180

Southern California GRP Partners Funding Orange County 180

socalTECH

JANUARY 22, 2010

The latest numbers from the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data from Thomson Reuters, were released this morning, finding that there was $587.8M invested in Southern California in Q4. was invested in the region. in investments.

Southern California 113

Southern California Invest Venture Capital Orange County 113

SoCal Tech Calendar

AUGUST 4, 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 -- LAVA's Annual VC Breakfast. Meet the top VCs who are investing in Southern California. Find out what they are looking to invest in. Find out what does it take to secure Venture Capital for your company. Learn about the hottest trends and the mistakes NOT to make.

LAVA 100

LAVA Venture Capital Palomar GRP Partners 100

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OCTOBER 11, 2010

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners --which has been very active in the local technology startup market--has made its latest investment, in an interesting industry: mortgage lending. GRP is the lead investor in Skyline Financial , a Calabasas-based provider of mortgage banking and lending.

GRP Partners 160

GRP Partners Calabasas Venture Capital Invest 160

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JULY 1, 2010

He eventually applied his lessons learned in these experiences when he founded Zag, a company that helps consumers buy cars over the Internet at pre-negotiated prices with nearly 4,000 dealers across the country [disclosure: my firm GRP Partners is an investor in Zag]. Investing much of new cash to build presence in Android platform.

Zag 248

Zag Truecar Venture Capital CarsDirect 248

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JUNE 4, 2010

Los Angeles-based Burstly , the mobile ad management firm run by Evan Rifkin, said this week that it has added SoftBank Capital and Founder Collective to its Series A funding round. Size of the additional investment was not disclosed. investment from Rincon Venture Partners and GRP Partners.

GRP Partners 169

GRP Partners Venture Capital Mobile Advertising 169

socalTECH

JULY 15, 2010

Investments by venture capitalists in Southern California were up, both in terms of deals and dollars in Q2, according to the latest numbers from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). in 91 investments, up significantly from the $451.8M Nationally, venture deals in the U.S.

Southern California 174

Southern California Orange County Rustic Canyon SoCal 174

socalTECH

OCTOBER 19, 2011

Mark Suster , the highly visible venture capitalist blogger at GRP Partners, has invested in UK-based TreeHouse , an online, video-focused site for helping users learn web design and development. Suster, in announcing the deal on his blog, did not say if his firm, GRP Partners, participated in the round.

GRP Partners 124

GRP Partners Invest Web Design Blogging 124

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 16, 2013

I’m very excited to be finally be able to announce that this week we’ve added Sam Rosen to our ranks at GRP Partners in the role of entrepreneurs-in-residence – EIR. At the time of that investment I had exchanged notes with Dave McClure who also invested. Come to partner meetings. I know Sam.

Startup 372

Startup Course Ideas Invest 372

socalTECH

MAY 2, 2012

Los Angeles-based venture capital investor GRP Partners has re-upped its investment in social data analytics firm DataSift , in a Series A follow-on announced this morning. DataSift said that existing investors GRP Partners and IA Ventures invested $7.2M

GRP Partners 145

GRP Partners Venture Capital Los Angeles Invest 145

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. When I’m on a VC panel, I’m always amused by the answers from my co-panelists as they are usually the same set of “VC cliches” which makes it even more fun when I blurt out my answer.

Startup 248

Startup Venture Capital Conference Social Media 248

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Los Angeles-based venture capital firm GRP Partners is looking to raised $250M in its newest fund, GRP IV L.P., GRP last closed on a fund--GRP III, L.P. GRP last closed on a fund--GRP III, L.P.--in GRP's investments include TrueCar, GOGII, Ad.ly, GumGum, among others.

Gogii 162

Gogii GRP Partners Funding Truecar 162

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MARCH 30, 2010

I’m very pleased today to announce that I invested, on behalf of GRP Partners, in Burstly alongside Rincon Venture Partners , an early stage VC in Southern California whith whom we love to work (and were our co-investors on RingRevenue ). I’ll explain in detail below.

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

socalTECH

JULY 20, 2012

The latest MoneyTree Survey, from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association, and Thomson Reuters, tabulated. in funding during Q2 of 2012, down from Q1, and slightly below investments in Q2 of 2011. The region saw the most investments in Los Angeles, with $329.0M in investment, then.

Southern California 145

Southern California Orange County GRP Partners Funding 145

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Last year I was on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley meeting with one of the most prominent venture capital firms in the country. The VC partner, somebody I greatly respect said, “Yeah, we like Gil and what they’re doing. That’s convenience when your VC is hoping to write the next $20 million check.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Southern California Google Startup 313

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JUNE 27, 2013

Despite the increase in startup activity in Southern California, local venture capital funds are still few and far between, and a large chunk of the funding here is still from Sand Hill Road. As you probably know, two thirds of our investments go into Los Angeles. Tell us about the new fund? Mark Suster: It''s a $200M fund.

Funding 196

Funding Venture Capital Los Angeles Social Media 196

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

Greycroft is Alan’s venture capital firm that recently raised its second fund ($130 million) with offices in both New York and LA. My action item – I will soon announce the GRP Partners CEO Summit. And awesome to get to spend time with Ian Sigalow “comparing notes” (VC speak ).

Startup 279

Startup Venture Capital Tips Custom Development 279