DFJ Frontier

Frontier Venture Capital

Company type	Private Ownership
Industry	Private Equity
Founded	2002
Founder	David Cremin Scott Lenet
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, United States
Products	Venture capital
Total assets	$80 million
Website	www.frontiervc.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 Draper Fisher Jurvetson. 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. 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.

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 a 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 Software	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 fitness equipment.	Private
Marval Biosciences	Sep-09	Next generation contrast agents for medical imaging.	Private
Janrain	Jul-09	SaaS user management platform for websites.	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, acquisition announced by Cisco
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