Mucker Capital has launched Mucker III, a USD45 million seed-stage venture capital fund which will invest in Internet-enabled software and services startups, with a focus on companies based in the greater Los Angeles area.
The fund will support seed-stage venture investments as well as pre-seed investments via MuckerLab, the firm’s renowned accelerator program.
“We are founders, just like the entrepreneurs we serve,” says Erik Rannala, co-founder and Managing Partner at Mucker Capital. “To use a startup fundraising analogy, our first fund was a small friends and family round; our second fund was a seed round that allowed us to validate the core hypotheses of our business; and Mucker III is our Series A.”
Mucker III will make USD250K to USD750K seed-round investments and sub-USD100K pre-seed investments for MuckerLab accelerator participants. The Mucker team raised the new capital from a combination of new and returning institutional investors, such as of funds of funds, foundations, and large family offices.
Founded in 2012 by William Hsu and Erik Rannala, Mucker Capital has invested in more than 50 technology startups. Notable portfolio companies include The Black Tux, ServiceTitan, Surf Air, Retention Science, and BloomNation. A relatively young VC firm, Mucker Capital has seen several early exits, including: Wallaby Financial (acquired by Bankrate), Blayze (acquired by Vobile), and Trunk Club (acquired by Nordstrom).
MuckerLab, the firm’s pre-seed accelerator, was ranked second in the United States by the Seed Accelerator Rankings Project based on valuations, exits, fundraising, survival, and founder satisfaction. With over USD350 million raised by accelerated companies and a network of over 200 mentors, MuckerLab outranked more 150 other accelerators.
Mucker Capital is so named for Thomas Edison’s “muckers,” the entrepreneurs who created world-changing technologies alongside the inventor in his R&D laboratory. The term is said to have come from Edison’s experiments to invent a better formulation for bricks. Edison and his team spent more than a year testing different materials and binding agents, or “muck,” before finally getting it right. Some people began referring to his researchers as “muckers,” and the name stuck.
“We’re not the kind of investors who just go to conferences and tweet all day,” says William Hsu, co-founder and Managing Partner at Mucker Capital. “We roll up our sleeves and work alongside entrepreneurs on product development, marketing, sales, recruiting, or whatever will help them win in the marketplace. With Mucker III, we’re going to get our hands even dirtier helping founders build scalable, lasting businesses.”
