Upfront Ventures Raises > $650 Million for Startups and Returns > $600 Million to LPs
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Photo by Scott Clark for Upfront Ventures (no, Evan is not standing on a box) Last year marked the 25th anniversary for Upfront Ventures and what a year it was. 2021 saw phenomenal returns for our industry and it topped off more than a decade of unprecedented VC growth. The industry has obviously changed enormously in 2022 but in many ways it feels like a “return to normal” that we have seen many times in our industry.
At our mid-year offsite our partnership at Upfront Ventures was discussing what the future of venture capital and the startup ecosystem looked like. From 2019 to May 2022, the market was down considerably with public valuations down 53–79% across the four sectors we were reviewing (it is since down even further). ==> Aside, we also have a NEW LA-based partner I’m thrilled to announce: Nick Kim. Please follow him & welcome him to Upfront!! <==
Praying to the God of Valuation
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Something happened in the past 7 years in the startup and venture capital world that I hadn’t experienced since the late 90’s — we all began praying to the God of Valuation. It wasn’t always like this and frankly it took a lot of joy out of the industry for me personally. What happened? How might our next phase of the journey seem brighter, even with more uncertain days for startups and capital markets? A LOOK BACK I started
Credit: Apex Today, Apex announced their Series B funding round, led by XYZ Ventures and CRV, with participation from Upfront. And if you spend much time in LA, you’ll quickly realize that we’re in a groundswell of space and defense startups. Is it because of the rich engineering talent coming out of Caltech, UCLA, USC, Harvey Mudd, and all the other universities? Is it because of the long history in the region of aerospace and
Ex-Network International execs raise $6M for Enza, an African fintech serving banks
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Over the past decade, Dubai-based Network International has become one of the dominant payment processors across the Middle East and Africa, thanks in part to a pair of acquisitions. However, many large incumbents can fall prey to slower innovation, opening the door for smaller, faster-moving startups. The latest development is Enza, a fintech founded in […]