Venture Capital

Updated:

Crescent Fund

Crescent Fund is Southern California's first student-run venture fund, sourcing pre-seed deals from SoCal campuses and backing student-founded startups.

Crescent Fund

Crescent Fund launched as a student-run venture fund anchored in Los Angeles, explicitly positioning itself against the coastal concentration of venture capital in the Bay Area and East Coast. It draws its pipeline from what it describes as the world’s highest density of top engineering and liberal arts colleges in Southern California, though it does not publicly name its founding principals or backers.

General information

Firm type

Venture Capital

Year founded

AUM

Undisclosed

Location

Region

North America

Country

United States

City

Los Angeles

Corporate office

Los Angeles, CA, United States

Frequently asked questions

How does Crescent Fund source its investments?

Crescent Fund sources exclusively from Southern California university ecosystems, requiring at least one founder to be a current student, dropout, or recent graduate of a SoCal institution. The fund’s stated thesis rests on tapping talent overlooked by Bay Area and East Coast venture firms, using campus proximity as its primary origination channel.

What does Crescent Fund look for in a founding team?

The fund evaluates teams on three criteria: student-founder status within Southern California, an unfair go-to-market ability specific to the team and product, and a capacity for fast product iteration supported by a strong technical core. It also weighs whether the timing of the startup’s entry aligns with a compelling market shift.

What stage does Crescent Fund invest at?

Crescent Fund operates at the pre-seed stage, writing initial checks into startups built by students or recent graduates. The capital is deployed early enough that the fund’s portfolio companies often announce the fund’s participation alongside their first disclosed financing rounds.

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