Upfront Ventures draws VR, software investor Kobie Fuller from Silicon Valley
Los Angeles’ largest venture capital fund has poached an investor from Silicon Valley with expertise in a pair of hot sectors locally: marketing software and virtual reality technology.
Upfront Ventures announced Thursday that Kobie Fuller plans to move with his family to Los Angeles and join the Santa Monica firm later this summer. He is leaving Accel Partners, where he has led investments in software start-ups such as UserTesting and EmergentVR since 2013. He also invested in Oculus VR before Facebook bought the virtual-reality headset maker for $2 billion.
The lengthy effort to persuade Fuller to leave a high-profile operation offers major validation for the increased prominence of Los Angeles’ tech start-up community, said Mark Suster, an Upfront managing partner.
Fuller beat out several other candidates after Upfront unveiled a $280-million fund -- Los Angeles’ biggest -- in December 2014, Suster said.
Fuller hit everything on Suster’s checklist. That includes executive experience (former chief marketing officer at Revolve, a Cerritos clothing start-up), investment success (at Accel in Silicon Valley, OpenView Ventures in Boston and Insight Venture Partners in New York City), strong academic pedigree (bachelor’s degree from Harvard University) and competitiveness (a co-captain of Harvard’s track and field team).
Suster, who noted he co-invested with Accel three times in the last year, said Fuller’s former employer assured him that the relationship between the firms would remain on good terms.
A trickle of technology venture capitalists have left Silicon Valley for Los Angeles to increase their Southern California focus since Suster made the switch in 2007. But he expects a brisker flow as the growth of entertainment app Snapchat and other companies fill offices across Los Angeles with high-caliber would-be entrepreneurs.
“Kobie’s made the same choice I did, and I intend to make it a trend,” Suster said.
Fuller, 35, said in a statement that he is “thrilled to join forces” with Upfront’s five other investment partners. Los Angeles should suit him well. For one, it has become a leading hub for filmmakers, video game creators and software developers trying to capitalize on the predicted buying frenzy of virtual-reality devices in the next few years.
“I’m eager to help fuel the growing L.A. venture community while expanding our national investing footprint,” Fuller said.
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