Monday, October 22, 2012

Karlin Ventures Takes Aim At Los Angeles Startup Investments

Los Angeles has a new, well funded, investment firm in town, with big plans for local investments: Karlin Ventures. According to TX Zhuo, who is heading up efforts for the investment firm, the venture capital firm is an arm of private investment firm Karlin Asset Management, the private family office of Gary Karlin Michelson, and is looking to help bolster sources of local capital for startups. Zhuo recently moved to Los Angeles, after a stint at Innovations Endeavors, the venture fund of Eric Schmidt. The investment firm's website went live Friday, when we spoke with Zhuo for an upcoming interview, and the firm has already made a number of investment in companies, including Wallaby Financial and Saygent. Karlin Asset Management has $1.4 billion in assets. Zhuo said the venture capital firm is working closely with a number of technology accelerators and incubators in town, in addition to sourcing its own deals; the firm also is very active in syndicating deals with other local investors.

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