Upfront Ventures

Upfront Ventures, formerly known as GRP Partners, is a Santa Monica-based venture capital company. According to the Los Angeles Times and Recode, Upfront Ventures is the largest venture capital company in Los Angeles, with $2 billion in total raised funds according to the LA Times.[1][2][3] Upfront Ventures has provided venture capital for companies that include Office Depot, Starbucks, P. F. Chang's China Bistro, Disney Digital Network, Ring and TrueCar, among others.

History

Upfront Ventures was formed in 1996 in Century City, Los Angeles under the name GRP Partners, or Global Retail Partners, founded by Yves Sisteron, Steven Dietz, and Steve Lebow.[4] GRP Partners were best known for investing in chain restaurants like P. F. Chang's and Starbucks, as well as retailers like Costco, but it also invested in tech companies such as PayPal Credit and Qualys.[5] Entrepreneur Mark Suster joined GRP Partners in 2007 as general manager.[1]

In 2013, the company renamed itself to Upfront Ventures; Suster told the Los Angeles Times that the name change reflected the transparent and open way the company did business, as well as 80 percent of the company's venture capital going to startups in their early stages and as reference to the entertainment industry's upfronts. The company also moved to Santa Monica, California, which is within close proximity to Los Angeles' tech and startup center, Silicon Beach, though the company makes investments in companies all over the world.[4][6] In July 2017, Upfront created a $400 million fund, specifically established for investing in startups over the next several years. [2] The company named rap artist Chamillionaire as its "entrepreneur-in-residence" in 2015.[7]

Upfront Ventures also hosts the Upfront Summit tech conference, held in Los Angeles.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Full transcript: Venture capital firm Upfront Ventures' Mark Suster on Recode Decode". Recode. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Upfront Ventures, L.A. County's biggest venture capital firm, just got bigger". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ "L.A.'s tech industry is booming, but how big is it?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  4. 1 2 "GRP Partners becomes Upfront Ventures, announces $200-million fund". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ "5 Questions for Mark Suster: VC, Entrepreneur & Blogging Phenomenon". The PE Hub. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  6. ↑ "GRP Partners Raises $200 Million Fund, Nabs New Office Space And Rebrands As Upfront Ventures". TechCruch. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Rapper Chamillionaire is now an entrepreneur-in-residence at a venture capital firm". Business Insider. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Upfront Summit, ads and acquisitions of Mophie and Represent among week's L.A. tech highlights". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.