What we invest in

Stage

We are a seed and early-stage venture capital fund. As such, we make our initial investment into a start-up prior to or at the Series A. What does this mean? This means we invest in start-ups looking for their first institutional money and, in some cases, their first outside money altogether. For example, all of the start-ups we have invested in our first fund were pre-revenue and, in most cases, were pre-product/service when we made our initial investment.

Sectors of Interest

We invest in seed and early-stage companies in the technology and life science sectors. In particular, we invest in (alphabetically): Biotech, Diagnostics, Internet, Healthcare IT & Services, Material Science, Medical Device, Semiconductor, Software, and Wireless. We have a particular fondness for multidisciplinary opportunities that capitalize on the convergence of multiple technologies. Please see our Portfolio for a representative list of our current investments.

Size

We prefer to invest in capital efficient businesses and will typically invest $2.5M (on average) over the life of the company in which we invest. We will, and have done, investments less than $1M when doing so is appropriate.

Other Considerations

In addition to investing in the companies in the aforementioned sectors at the aforementioned stages, we have a particular emphasis on investment opportunities that are here in Southern California. We truly believe that Southern California has all the raw materials necessary to be a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and is well positioned eventually to surpass Silicon Valley in venture investments for several reasons.

Geography & Demographics

Southern California, often referred to as the “Tech Coast” is comprised of a handful of counties from Santa Barbara in the north to San Diego and the Mexican Border in the south and is home to approximately 24 million residents. The region is a bastion of entrepreneurship and is filled with 536,758 small (< 99 employees) businesses across a breadth of industries according to a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp survey.

Knowledge as Capital

Southern California has more research universities than any location in the United States and is home to 5 University of California Campuses (Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Irvine, Riverside, and San Diego), 10 California State University campuses, CalTECH, the University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymont University, the Claremont Colleges, and the University of San Diego as well as various research institutes. Furthermore, these colleges and universities are determinedly international and Southern California is a leader in the nationwide enrollment of more than 550,000 foreign students at U.S. universities.