Crosscut Ventures

Crosscut Ventures

Crosscut Ventures launched in 2008 as Rick Smith, Brian Garrett, and Brett Brewer pooled their operating and investment experience to build a dedicated early-stage fund in Santa Monica. The founding thesis held that Los Angeles—with its deep technical talent from Caltech, UCLA, and the aerospace and media industries—was underserved by institutional seed capital. The firm positioned itself as a localized first-check partner during a period when venture activity in LA was largely ad-hoc and individual-driven. Crosscut invests primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages, with initial checks ranging from $500,000 to $2 million, reserving significant capital for follow-on rounds into breakout portfolio companies. Asset-class exposure spans equity across enterprise software, fintech infrastructure, digital health platforms, and applied AI tooling. The firm has backed companies including Dollar Shave Club, which was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion in 2016, and Tala, a mobile lending platform now operating in multiple emerging-market geographies (per public records). Deal flow concentrates in Southern California but includes selective placements in other US innovation hubs. Since its founding, Crosscut has raised multiple fund vehicles, moving from its inaugural early-stage pool to a series of later funds that deepened its capacity for seed and selective Series A participation. The firm operates with a partnership structure driven by its co-founders, maintaining a platform model that provides portfolio companies with access to a network of LA-based operators and limited partners drawn from the region's media, gaming, and technology sectors. In recent years, Crosscut has continued to raise follow-on vehicles, although specific fund sizes remain undisclosed. Crosscut's structural differentiator lies in its deep geographic concentration within a market that, through the 2010s and 2020s, evolved from a venture capital afterthought into a distinct startup ecosystem. By maintaining an early-stage focus and a partnership rooted in LA's institutional fabric, the firm functions as a gateway for coastal and international capital seeking exposure to Southern California's technology growth without the competition dynamics of the Bay Area seed market.