Kline Hawkes California L.P.

Specialty: Early or mid-stage companies

Capital under management: $112 million

Amount invested in 1996: $21.8 million

Venture capital veteran Frank Kline discovered the joys and frustrations of raising capital when he struck out on his own to start Kline Hawkes California L.P. three years ago.

Kline took his idea on the road, traveling around the country to sell his brand of venture capitalism to financial advisors for many of the nation’s top institutional investors.

“My spin was Southern California, growth, expansion capital and an underserved marketplace,” said Kline, whose firm concentrates on deals in both Northern and Southern California.

Many of the advisors didn’t share his vision of strong potential in Southern California, and it wasn’t until he met with Hamilton Lane Advisors of San Francisco that he made a breakthrough.

“My kneepads were worn out from doing all those presentations. I must have done at least a dozen before Hamilton Lane,” Kline said.

Now Kline and his partners sit atop a $48 million fund, which they could leverage to as much as $128 million using their U.S. Small Business Association-supported sister fund Kline Hawkes California SBIC L.P., according to Kline. The fund’s largest contributor is the California Pension Employees Retirement System.

Kline Hawkes has invested about $29.4 million to date in eight companies, including four in Southern California and three in Northern California.

“We don’t have an industry focus, but we like to invest in industries with a potential for growth,” said Kline. Examples of Kline Hawkes’ investments to date include Micronet Technology Inc., a data storage company in Irvine, and EOS Corp., a maker of power converters in Camarillo.

The firm’s investments average about $3.2 million per deal, which involve either development- or mezzanine-stage companies.

Douglas Young