Crosscut Ventures raises $75M fund for early-stage tech and gaming startups in LA

Crosscut Ventures announced its new $75 million fund to invest in early-stage startups and seed investments in the Los Angeles area. The fund’s establishment shows there’s still interest in investing in Southern California startups and gaming enterprises as well.

Crosscut also announced that Clinton Foy is joining the team as a new managing director, bringing additional operating and gaming expertise to the Venice, Calif.-based firm.

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The firm already has $50 million under management from two previous funds. Brian Garrett, the cofounder and managing director of Crosscut Ventures, said in a statement that the firm had the good fortune to have strong interest from a good group of institutional limited partners for the third fund. He said that was a testament to the firm’s previous success and to the entrepreneurs it has backed over the past eight years.

Crosscut said that the third fund was initially targeted at $50 million but was significantly oversubscribed. Investors in the fund include The James Irvine Foundation and Top Tier Capital.

Eric Woo of Top Tier Capital said that its investment in Crosscut is emblematic of its belief that the booming Los Angeles startup ecosystem is still relatively underserved and undercapitalized.

Foy was previously the chief operating officer of Square Enix, the publisher of the Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider games. He has domain expertise in gaming, mobile, esports, and new platforms, which is a focus for this fund. Foy previously led Crosscut’s early investments in the gaming sector including Super Evil Megacorp, Mobcrush, Little Labs, and Vulcun.

Crosscut was started in 2008 by Rick Smith, Brett Brewer, and Brian Garrett. Their vision was to build companies in Los Angeles. They made 45 investments via the previous funds and have had 10 exits to date. Smith said in a statement that the new fund is a great milestone and that the company is now properly capitalized to scale up its business and to continue catalyzing the tech ecosystem of L.A.

Crosscut will make about eight to 10 investments per year, mostly in Southern California. It will also invest across the U.S. with strong local co-investors. It will focus on areas that include software as a service, e-commerce, adtech, mobile, marketplaces, and gaming.