Co-founder and former Oversee.net Chief Executive Lawrence Ng has launched a $10 million incubator and seed fund named OnRamp Fund.
The fund will make investments between $50,000 and $200,000 in early stage startups, often e-commerce companies, Ng said. Much of the money will come from Ng himself with contributions from a few outside investors.
“Our intent is to work a lot closer to companies than traditional incubators do,” said Ng, noting the incubator will have an operational involvement similar to Santa Monica startup studio Science Inc. “The way we think about it is, we are really building businesses rather than just being investors.”
Ng earned his wealth founding Oversee, a company that operates a portfolio of consumer finance and travel websites. Much of that wealth is invested in Ng’s family office, LNG Management. That family office, said Ng, may participate in latter-stage investment rounds of companies that graduate from OnRamp.
OnRamp has nine employees who work between offices in downtown Los Angeles, Shanghai, China and Taipei, Taiwan. OnRamp’s Shanghai office is used to help connect retailers with manufacturers in China, while its Taipei staff help find engineering talent.
“Taiwan is very advantageous because the tech talent is, we feel, a hidden gem,” Ng said.
The incubator aims to actively support around three startups at the same time. Its current crop includes on-demand car cleaning service CarDetaling.com, wedding planning service BridalQuotes.com, online wedding dress retailer SimplyBridal.com and a yet-to-be announced entertainment startup, said Ng.
Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @garrettreim for the latest in L.A. tech news.