- DFJ Frontier
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DFJ Frontier
DFJ Frontier 
Type Private Ownership Industry Private Equity Founded 2002 Founder(s) David Cremin
Scott LenetHeadquarters Los Angeles, California, United States Products Venture capital Total assets $80 million Website www.dfjfrontier.com DFJ Frontier is an American venture capital firm with offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Santa Barbara, California as well as Portland, Oregon. The firm invests in seed and early stage technology companies on the west coast, initially funding companies with between $100,000 and $1 million. The firm has approximately $80 million under management in two funds, DFJ Frontier Fund I, LP ($25.6 million, 2003 vintage) and DFJ Frontier Fund II, LP ($55.4 million, 2007 vintage). DFJ Frontier typically leads the first round of investment, with one of its partners serving on the board of the portfolio company.
DFJ Frontier is a network partner of the DFJ Network and DFJ. DFJ is based in Menlo Park, California with affiliate offices in more than 30 cities around the world and over $5 billion in capital commitments.[1] These 17 individually structured venture capital firms form a network with over 150 investment professionals. Notable DFJ Network investments include AdMob (acquired by Google), Baidu, Hotmail (acquired by Microsoft), Overture (acquired by Yahoo), Skype (acquired by eBay), and MaxPreps (acquired by CBS Sports).
DFJ Frontier was founded in 2002 by Managing Directors David Cremin and Scott Lenet, former entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Frank Foster joined as a venture partner in 2003, becoming a managing director in 2007. The firm’s venture partners include Jim Schraith, Oleg Kaganovich, Brian Danella, Eric Rosenfeld, and Tony Perkins.
Contents
Investment Criteria
Stage: DFJ Frontier invests in seed (yet to complete product development) and early-stage (product development complete, may have launched) companies.
Geography: DFJ Frontier invests in companies on the west coast of the United States.
Industry Sector: Information technology, internet, media, life sciences, and other.
Business Model Characteristics: DFJ Frontier favors investments with recurring revenue characteristics, defensibility from competition, and extensibility into new markets, products, and geographies.
Entrepreneurial Education
The partners at DFJ Frontier have developed curriculum to teach entrepreneurship and venture capital to MBAs, PhDs, post-doctoral students, and undergraduates. DFJ Frontier investment professionals have served as adjunct professors at UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and University of Southern California; and co-founded the Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Davis. The firm has run entrepreneurship academies or guest lectured at Stanford University, Harvard University, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, University of Michigan, Portland State University, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Oregon Health & Science University, University of Edinburgh, Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm, Sweden), CSU Fresno, CSU Sacramento, and Humboldt State University.
The firm's professionals author a byline called "Something Ventured" to educate entrepreneurs about venture capital. The column has appeared in the Sacramento Business Journal.
Portfolio
DFJ Frontier has provided venture capital for the following companies:
Name First Invested Description Status MomentFeed Jul-11 Analytics and marketing tools for location-based engagement. Private Super Heat Games Apr-11 Collectible trading card games showcasing the world's top professional action sports athletes. Private Dx Biosciences Oct-10 Develops diagnostic technologies to extract biomarkers from tissue samples. Private Unsubscribe Oct-10 One-click unsubscribe plug-in for email. Private MyWinesDirect Aug-10 Software and logistics for online and interstate wine shipping. Private GameSalad Jun-10 Leading software platform for developing casual games. Private Predixion Jun-10 Cloud-based predictive analytics tools for business. Private AppleTree Nov-09 Wiki-based family tree of the world. Private Netpulse Oct-09 Interactive media platform for fitnesss equipment. Private Marval Biosciences Sep-09 Next generation contrast agents for medical imaging. Private Janrain Jul-09 SaaS identity management for Web sites Private Lottay Jun-09 Social, friend-to-friend gifting platform. Private HyrdaDx Nov-08 Develops low cost molecular diagnostics for dehydration. Private AudioMicro Sep-08 Music and sound effects for any creative project. Private Foundog Sep-08 Provider of next generation corporate promotional products. Acquired by Life360 Zadspace Jul-08 Direct marketing solutions for the packaged shipments industry. Private uSamp Apr-08 Online sample services for market research firms. Private Planitax Nov-07 Corporate tax software services. Acquired by Thomson Reuters ClearAccess Jul-07 Broadband network management technology. Private d.light design Jul-07 Affordable lighting and power solutions for rural households. Private Delve Networks Jul-07 Audio and video search technology. Acquired by Limelight Networks (NASDAQ:LLNC) BOOM! Studios Jun-07 Diversified media production and publishing. Private Mogreet Apr-07 Video mobile messaging. Private Synapsense May-06 Wireless sensor network technologies. Private Chimeros Apr-06 Nanoscale technology for the delivery of nucleic acids. Private SkyGrid Feb-06 Real-time information services for the finance industry. Private Iconix Nov-05 High definition video solutions. Private Synthetic Genomics Sep-05 Genomic "manufacturing" techniques for energy and life sciences applications. Private Dragnet Solutions Aug-05 Fraud prevention and identity management solutions for banking and retail. Private Bondmart Jun-05 Real-time trading platform for municipal securities. Private World of Good Jun-05 Fair Trade globally sourced gifts. Acquired by eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Tioga Energy Feb-05 Solar finance and integration services. Private JiWire Dec-04 Wi-Fi ad network, hotspot directory and Wi-Fi consumer software. Private MaxPreps Dec-04 Online publisher of national high school sports media and information. Acquired by CBS Sports Prolacta Bioscience Sep-04 Specialty nutrition for premature and low birth weight infants Private CrystalVoice Aug-04 Quality of service software for voice over Internet solutions. Acquired by Global IP Sound Intematix Dec-03 Material science discovery services. Private Lipomics Dec-03 Predictive diagnostics for personalized medicine. Acquired by Tethys Bioscience Tethys Bioscience Dec-03 Predictive diagnostics for personalized medicine. Private OnTech Oct-03 Self-heating technology for food packaging. Private Digital Path May-03 Wireless broadband networks. Private Abazab Jan-03 Video sharing technology. Private References
External links
Categories:- Venture capital firms
- Companies based in Los Angeles, California
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