Fika Ventures Launches $40M Seed Fund

Fika Ventures has raised a $40 million seed fund to invest in business-to-business companies developing software products for finance, online marketplaces, and healthcare.

Fika was founded by Eva Ho and TX Zhuo, who were founding general partners at Susa Ventures and Karlin Ventures respectively. The Sawtelle-based venture firm plans to invest predominantly in startups in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, while opportunistically investing in companies in Seattle and New York as well.

Several seed funds have sprouted in Los Angeles within the last several months, including a $10 million fund for incubator Amplify.LA and a $45 million fund for venture firm Embark Ventures, led by Baroda Ventures managing partner Peter Lee.

For its part, Fika is focused not so much on investing a particular amount in a startup, but owning a certain stake, said Zhuo.

“When we lead an investment we will try to own about 10 percent. When we co-invest we will try to own about 5 percent,” said Zhuo. “That translates into an average check size from $250,000 to $1.2 million.”

While the bulk of the Fika fund came from limited partners such as Cross Creek Advisors and Knollwood Investment Advisory - institutional investors - some 20 percent of the fund came from local tech chief executives and entrepreneurs, including Gunnar Lovelace, chief executive of Thrive Market, Gil Elbaz, chief executive of Factual, and Jilliene Helman, chief executive of RealtyMogul.

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