March Capital Partners announced the closing of its first fund, totaling $240 million, with a focus on technology and media startups in Southern California.
The VC firm, based in Santa Monica, has invested more than $100 million in at least 15 companies globally, spanning both early- and late-stage companies across multiple tech sectors, centered on the infrastructure behind consumer and mobile services. The fund was founded in 2014 by Jim Armstrong, Sumant Mandal, Gregory Milken and Jamie Montgomery.
“L.A. is a big focus for us,” said Milken, who is the son of financier Michael Milken. He added that about one-third of March Capital’s investments will be in Southern California-based startups. Milken, who formerly worked as a business development exec at Fox and Warner Bros., said he’s interested in investments in distribution and discovery of digital media, gaming, and virtual reality and augmented reality.
March Capital’s investment portfolio includes AppCito, App lariat, BillDesk, Bridg, CarTrade, Coho Data, Deep Forest Media (acquired by Rakuten), Dojo Madness, E8 Security, OpenHouse, Pensa Networks, Perspica, quick.ly, VeloCloud Networks, Vyng and ZowDow. The firm has also invested in two Silicon Valley incubators, The Hive and The Fabric.
According to March Capital, its $240 million first fund is the biggest by a Southern California VC to date. Major venture venture-capital firms in the L.A. area include Upfront Ventures and Greycroft Partners.
Milken was formerly founder and former COO of AltEgo, a cloud-based technology and gaming company, and was a senior executive at education company Knowledge Universe. Montgomery was the founder and CEO of investment bank Montgomery & Co. and founder of the Montgomery Summit investment conference.
Mandal and Armstrong have worked together for more than a decade. They began investing together at idealab Capital Partners and then Clearstone Venture Partners, where they focused on early-stage investments.
Pictured above (l. to r.): Gregory Milken, Jim Armstrong, Jamie Montgomery, Sumant Mandal
