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On the heels of a record-setting year for Southern California’s startup environment, we asked more than 30 leading Los Angeles-based investors for their take on the city’s top venture capitalists. (Specifically, we prompted: “Which L.A.-based VCs impress you the most?”) They responded with the names of 45 peers that they admire—14 of whom made the following list by receiving two or more votes.
The results offer an insider’s view of the L.A.’s startup scene in 2022—which, even as it rapidly expands, remains an insular world led by a handful of key dealmakers, like the venture capital industry at large. This year, TenOneTen partner Minnie Ingersoll and Bonfire Ventures managing director Mark Mullen tied for the top spot, with five votes apiece; they were followed by Wonder Ventures managing partner Dustin Rosen, who received four votes. Behind them, five VCs tied for third place with three votes each, while another six investors round up the list with two votes apiece.
Like last year’s list (which also featured Bonfire’s Mullen in the top spot), the below results are sorted by the number of votes each VC received; where there were ties, we list the investors alphabetically by their last names. As always, we asked survey participants not to vote for any of their colleagues—and vetted the list to ensure they stuck to that rule.
Without further ado ado, here are LA’s top VCs of 2022, as judged by their peers.
Minnie Ingersoll, TenOneTen Ventures
Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at early-stage venture firm TenOneTen, whose recent investments include crypto travel rewards startup FlyCoin. Prior to TenOneTen, she co-founded Shift Technologies, an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars. Ingersoll also spent more than a decade at Google, where she focused on the tech giant’s fiber optic, advertising and charitable efforts. (She also hosts dot.LA’s LA Venture podcast.)
Mark Mullen, Bonfire Ventures
Mark Mullen is co-founder and managing director of Bonfire Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that backs business-to-business (B2B) software startups. (Recent investments include cloud communications startup Telgorithm.) Mullen previously managed venture funds Double M Partners and Mull Capital. In January, an SEC filing revealed that Bonfire aimed to raise $165 million for its third fund. (Disclosure: Mullen is an investor in dot.LA.)
Dustin Rosen, Wonder Ventures
Dustin Rosen is the founder and managing partner of Wonder Ventures, an early stage investor in companies including L.A.-based unicorns Whatnot and Bird. Earlier in his career, Rosen founded the fashion app Pose and was a senior associate at the Mail Room Fund. Last month, Wonder launched a $31 million fund focused exclusively on early-stage L.A. startups.
Jim Andelman, Bonfire Ventures
Alongside Mark Mullen, Jim Andelman is a co-founder and managing director at Bonfire Ventures, an early-stage venture firm focused on B2B software startups. Previously, he oversaw software deals for Bay Area investment firm Broadview Capital Partners.
Anna Barber, M13
Anna Barber is a partner at M13, a venture firm focused on early-stage consumer tech companies. (Recent investments include NFT startup Unblocked.) Barber is also an advisor to the USC Marshall Venture Fund. She previously led Techstars LA as its managing director and co-founded Scribble Press, a New York-based book publishing startup. (Disclosure: M13 is an investor in dot.LA.)
Eva Ho, Fika Ventures
Eva Ho is a general partner at Fika Ventures, a seed-stage firm that focuses on sectors including AI, automation and big data. Ho formerly worked at Google and served as entrepreneur-in-residence for the city of Los Angeles.
Jeff Morris, Chapter One
Jeff Morris is the founder and managing partner of Chapter One, a venture firm targeting early-stage web3 startups. The former Tinder executive’s previous investments include Dapper Labs, Lyft, Cameo and PearPop.
Dana Settle, Greycroft
Dana Settle is a co-founder and managing partner at Greycroft, which has backed consumer-focused startups including Acorns, Goop and Bumble. The Lehman Brothers alum helped Greycroft close two funds worth nearly $700 million combined in late 2020. (Disclosure: Greycroft is an investor in dot.LA.)
Josh Diamond, Walkabout Ventures
Josh Diamond is a general partner at Walkabout Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm that primarily targets fintech startups. Diamond previously served as a principal investor at Clocktower Technology Ventures.
Buck Jordan, Wavemaker Labs
Buck Jordan is the founder and CEO of Wavemaker Labs, which funds and incubates startups in partnership with larger corporations. Wavemaker has especially targeted the food industry supply chain space—backing automated technologies at both the agricultural and food preparation stages that deploy AI and robotics.
Kara Nortman, Upfront Ventures
Kara Nortman is a managing partner at Upfront Ventures. An alum of IAC, Battery Ventures and Microsoft, Nortman previously co-founded children’s ecommerce startup Moonfrye and also helped launch women’s professional soccer club Angel City FC. Upfront raised $177 million for a new fund in January; local portfolio companies include GOAT, Creator Now and Endgame. (Disclosure: Upfront Ventures is an investor in dot.LA.)
Spencer Rascoff, 75 & Sunny
Spencer Rascoff is a co-founder and general partner at 75 & Sunny, a venture firm and startup incubator. Focused on sectors including proptech and ecommerce, Rascoff previously co-founded Zillow, Hotwire.com and real estate platform Pacaso (Disclosure: Rascoff is the co-founder and executive chairman of dot.LA.)
Adriana Saman, Clocktower Technology Ventures
Adriana Saman is a principal at Clocktower Technology Ventures, a venture firm investing in early-stage fintech startups across the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Saman was previously an analyst at JPMorgan Chase.
Sara Zayani, Global Founders Capital
Sarra Zayani is a partner at Global Founders Capital. The Greycroft alum has led Global Founders’ investments in local startups including Cann, Universal Hydrogen and Pacaso.
Here’s what’s happening during the closing weekend (Oct 19 - Oct 20) of LA Tech Week 2024! Events are organized by location so you can easily catch the sessions that interest you most.
12:00 PM
BIG Showcase (Invite Only)
2:00 PM
Light Dao
Struck Capital, Seahorse Express
12:00 PM
Sunrise Integration, Shopify
9:00 PM
Administratum, Valar Atomics
10:00 AM
Passes
6:00 PM
Gaya Ventures
6:00 PM
Sagos Distro, Alma Wellness
7:00 AM
Founders Running Club
8:30 AM
Techstars
9:00 AM
Magic Mind
StartupStarter, Inc., City of Santa Monica
10:00 AM
Gen She
AI LA
Crea, Barry's, Unsubscribe
10:30 AM
Plantologist
11:30 AM
YouTube
1:00 PM
Office for Humanity and Circuit Works
LadyDayDao
5:00 PM
KARD, What's Plots
7:00 AM
Camino5
9:00 AM
Westside Yogis
11:00 AM
Open App
1:00 PM
Ripe and Teddy's Hot House
4:00 PM
VIAVIA, BNTO.RENT, ALMA.AI
11:00 AM
BLCK UNICRN
7:00 PM
Next Sequence
12:00 PM
Entrepreneur Ventures, VCPE GROUPS
2:00 PM
AI LA, DELL, NVIDIA
10:00 AM
Clutch Talent
11:00 AM
11DollarSunglasses.com, Less Litter Foundation
12:00 PM
Data in LA, Amplitude
12:30 AM
New Moon, Warner UK Innovations
3:00 PM
Dreamore
8:00 AM
Surfed Club, Bow Shock
12:00 PM
WeAreLATech.com, Blankspaces.com
2:00 PM
BLCK UNICRN
For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.
Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!
Check out Friday, October 18th's schedule for LA Tech Week 2024! Events are sorted by location so you can easily find what matches your goals for the day.
8:00 AM
Scrappy
7:30 AM
Seaside Ventures
9:00 AM
Intersections LA
1:30 PM
BioscienceLA, County o LA, Larta Institute, LAEDC
5:00 PM
Grid110
6:00 PM
ACT House, Sip & Sonder
7:00 PM
Dirac, Inc.
10:00 AM
Zoo Corporation, Embedded Ventures
12:00 PM
Blended Impact
9:00 AM
USC ISI
4:00 PM
Silicon Valley Bank, Emmeline Ventures
8:00 AM
AI LA
5:30 PM
AI LA
12:00 PM
4:00 PM
Verizon, Infinity Festival
11:00 AM
SVRN Ventures
Headline, Slow Ventures, Karat
2:00 PM
Glyf
Botanical, Panoptic
The American South Asian Network (ASAN)
4:00 PM
Synadia
The American South Asian Network (ASAN)
Dory Consulting
Clutch Talent
Cohere Commerce
5:00 PM
Clutch Talent
Pirros
6:00 PM
No Pressure Networking
Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC
6:15 PM
Intersectional Ventures
7:00 PM
Mantis VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Medusa Ai, Marco Di Luca Event Design
9:00 AM
USC Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Cap Table Coalition, PledgeLA, Sisters with Ventures
1:30 PM
CrownData.AI
2:00 PM
Taisu Ventures, Quotient Ventures
7:30 AM
Run Tech Club
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
Ripe and Teddy's Hot House
5:30 PM
Spire Circles
7:00 PM
Moss Venice, Yuzulabs, JPMorgan Chase
8:00 PM
Truffle
2:00 PM
BLCK UNICRN
7:30 PM
Legendary Ventures, Day Dream Ventures
9:30 AM
A16Z GAMES
7:00 PM
L'ATTITUDE Ventures
9:00 AM
Fedtech, National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)
For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.
Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!
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Here’s what’s in store for Thursday, October 17th at LA Tech Week 2024! Check out the events by location below to find sessions that align with your interests and goals for an inspiring day in LA’s tech scene.
5:00 PM
Andrew Yeung, Blindspot
8:00 PM
Andrew Yeung, Blindspot
8:00 AM
Scrappy
2:00 PM
WE Global Studios
6:00 PM
Her Workplace
4:00 PM
Slyngshot, Singleton Foundation, East West Projects
6:00 PM
Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs of Southern California
9:00 AM
Intersections LA
9:30 AM
Tediophobes
5:30 PM
Curbivore
10:00 AM
USC Marshall Grief Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
5:00 PM
Toonstar, Loyola Marymount University
3:00 PM
DTI
5:00 PM
Sift
5:30 PM
Shield Capital
6:00 PM
Sigma Computing, Prodege
HiveWatch
6:30 PM
Astrolab
11:00 AM
Sonder Impact, Sip & Sonder
6:00 PM
Sonder Impact, Sip & Sonder, ACT House
6:30 PM
Skuttlebot, Maintenance Bay 54
6:30 PM
Reitler, Carta
3:00 PM
USC, Information Sciences Institute
5:00 PM
USC, ISI
6:00 PM
The Law Firm of Shivani Honwad, Women in LAVA
8:00 AM
AI LA
5:00 PM
Stash, Google
6:00 PM
AI copilot
Tech Me Out, Global Objects, Verizon Innovation Lab
8:00 AM
Human To Human, Superbloom Collective
8:30 AM
Upfront Ventures, Fenwick
olive, Bonfire, Headline, Fika, TipTop Ventures
9:30 AM
Silicon Valley Bank
Clocktower Ventures, Intuit Ventures
Founders Wellth Club
10:00 AM
Pilot
Aleo
10:30 AM
Red Beard Ventures
12:00 PM
Inner Circle HQ
Blended Impact, LAEDC
Brydge Club, Lendtech, Two to Twenty
1:00 PM
Olympian Motors
2:00 PM
YouTube, @iJustine, @LaurDIY, @StevenHe
3:00 PM
Beaute in Tech
AppsFlyer, Mavan
Globalize
yess.io
3:30 PM
How Women Invest, 2045 Ventures
4:00 PM
WeAreLATech
Amplify, Wonder Ventures, Fenwick, Stifel, CDW
Silicon Valley Bank, Milken Institute, GreyMatter Capital
Olympian Motors
Hedra
4:30 PM
Emerging LA, Sunset Ventures, Fidelity Private Shares
5:00 PM
XRC Ventures, Black Women Talk Tech
Palm Drive Capital, Deel
NextGen Venture Partners
MELT
Squad.App
Tripsider, Ferla
LAstartups, Startup Coil, Expert Dojo
5:15 PM
So Cal Tech, WeAreLATech
5:30 PM
Plantologist
StartupStarter, Hollo.AI, 1500 or Nothing
Clutch Talent
Everything Marketplaces
6:00 PM
Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC
Black Tech Meetup
USC Alumni Entrepreneurs Network
Ince Capital
Dreaming in Digital A.I.
Fusion VC, Fenwick
Fanfix
The Wealth Salons, DVRGNT Ventures, HubSpot, BLCK VC, Cooley, Fabric VC, Canadian Consulate of LA
INCE Capital
This Week In Fintech
Share Ventures, Jack Taylor PR
6:30 PM
ElevenLabs
PowerYou AI
Higgsfield AI
Legendary Ventures, Hustle Fund
7:00 PM
Emerging LA, Sunset Ventures, Fidelity Private Shares
Zeal
8:00 PM
Litquidity Ventures
8:00 AM
Pacer.co
VENICE
9:00 AM
Supply Change Capital
Arc, Humans Anonymous, Kindo
10:00 AM
Wave Digital Assets
12:00 PM
JP Morgan, Lux Capital, Camber Road, Varda
1:00 PM
The Redline Apart Hotel
2:00 PM
Everybody Ventures, TriNet
Mercato, Silicon Valley Bank
4:30 PM
West of Lincoln
5:00 PM
The Redline Venice Apart Hotel
Kyte
5:30 PM
XPRIZE, the Female Funders Club, Abundance360
6:00 PM
Graphite.dev
Brandy
AI LA
Intro, a16z
7:00 PM
Date Week, Paloma
11:00 AM
SaaSfluencer
APCO
BLCK UNICRN
1:00 PM
Untapped Ventures
Wonder
2:00 PM
Azarian Growth Agency
4:00 PM
Cake Equity
6:30 PM
A16z
Styld
7:00 PM
Bulletpitch, Pluto LA
ACME Capital, Calibrate VC, Techstars Space, Advaita Capital
WESTLAKE VILLAGE
4:00 PM
Trinet
WESTSIDE
11:00 AM
A La Mode Branding
Arizona Commerce Authority
2:00 PM
UCLA Technology Development Group, CNSI at UCLA
5:30 PM
Pryzm
Greycroft, Sound
6:00 PM
Graham & Walker
For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.
Enjoy LA Tech Week 2024!
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