PE Tech Report

NEWSLETTER

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

DFJ Frontier closes second seed-stage venture capital fund

DFJ Frontier, a seed-stage venture capital firm, has announced the close of its second venture capital fund, DFJ Frontier II.

DFJ Frontier, a seed-stage venture capital firm, has announced the close of its second venture capital fund, DFJ Frontier II.

The majority of the USD55.4m fund was raised from institutional investors, including Calpers, Credit Suisse, Hamilton Lane, Lacers, and the Oregon Growth Account.

DFJ Frontier will invest the second fund in media, information technology, life sciences, and a broad range of other companies throughout the West Coast. The firm has already made several investments out of the new fund, including Boom! Studios (Los Angeles), a diversified media production and graphic novel publishing company; Delve Networks (Seattle), a provider of video content management and search technology; United Sample (Encino, California), a provider of online sample services for market research firms; and Zadspace (El Segundo, California), a provider of direct marketing solutions for the packaged shipments industry.

The firm has also announced that DFJ Frontier venture partner Frank Foster (pictured) has been named a managing director. Foster has worked closely with the team at DFJ Frontier since joining as a venture partner in 2003. He was previously a general partner of both Allen & Buckeridge, one of Australia’s largest venture capital funds, and the Gideon Hixon Fund.

Jim Schraith, Eric Rosenfeld, Bob Ward, and Brian Danella have also joined the firm as venture partners. Schraith is an active angel investor in the Sacramento area and serves on the boards of several local start-ups. Rosenfeld and Ward are the co-founders and managing partners of Capybara Ventures, a professionally managed seed capital fund and investor cooperative supporting technology-based growth businesses in Portland, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest. Danella is a founder and principal of Prequent, a Silicon Valley strategic communications firm that serves technology companies.

The firm has also opened offices in Los Angeles, which will become DFJ Frontier’s new headquarters location, and in Portland, Oregon. This supplements the firm’s existing offices in Sacramento and Santa Barbara, California.

‘At DFJ Frontier, we back West Coast entrepreneurs whose businesses often cut against the grain of popular venture capital deals,’ says Scott Lenet, co-founder and managing director, DFJ Frontier. ‘Our culture is built on helping these visionary entrepreneurs succeed, and we assist with everything from follow-on fundraising to making business development and sales introductions, sourcing and interviewing key hires, and providing other strategic and operational support as needed.’

DFJ Frontier co-founder and managing director David Cremin adds: ‘We’re fortunate to have been able to grow our team organically with professionals who have already been working with us for the past few years. Our expanded team gives us the resources to maintain and enhance the close working relationships we have built with each of our portfolio companies, even as we continue to make new investments.’

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

MOST POPULAR

FURTHER READING

Featured