Seed-stage VC, US

Upfront Ventures

Venture capital firm · Santa Monica · Founded 1996

Quick read

Upfront Ventures is an early-stage VC firm founded in 1996 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Originally known as GRP Partners (Global Retail Partners), it rebranded and built one of LA's most active early-stage portfolios, with 205+ companies backed across AI, SaaS, healthcare, consumer, and enterprise. It invests primarily in the Southern California ecosystem while writing checks nationally and selectively internationally.

Key facts

Founded
1996
Founders
Yves Sisteron
Employees
46
Sectors
generalist, ai, saas, fintech, healthcare, consumer, enterprise
Website
upfront.com

Investment thesis

Upfront backs early-stage technology founders across AI, SaaS, healthcare, consumer, and enterprise — concentrating roughly half its capital in the Southern California ecosystem while investing nationally and selectively in Europe, India, and Israel. The firm writes lead checks at seed and Series A, aiming to be a long-term partner from day one.

Recent activity

  • May 2026investment
    Led the $5M seed round for CVRD Health, a platform helping home health agencies execute care plans profitably. linkedin.com
  • May 2026investment
    Backed Kubera Health, an AI-native platform for healthcare financial performance management, which raised $9.5M total. alleywatch.com
  • May 2026investment
    Backed Observable Space, a Santa Monica-based space monitoring company that raised $106M total. alleywatch.com
  • Feb 2026investment
    Led Daytona's $24M Series A — Daytona builds an open-source development environment manager for AI agents. upfront.com
  • Feb 2026press
    Hosted the annual Upfront Summit 2026, themed 'From First Principles to Big Fucking Ideas — How to Win in the AI Era,' drawing 1,000+ investors and founders in Los Angeles. upfront.com
  • 2025investment
    Led Village's $9.5M seed round to build a modern health system for specialty pediatrics, alongside Bling Capital, GTMfund, and Perceptive Ventures. linkedin.com
  • 2025leadership
    Welcomed Christina Fattore to the investment team, focused on healthcare alongside Kevin Zhang and Kesar Varma. linkedin.com
  • 2025investment
    Backed Samara Aerospace's seed round alongside Balerion Space Ventures and What If Ventures; Samara builds high-stability RF-detection satellites. linkedin.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Upfront Ventures?+

Upfront Ventures is an early-stage VC firm founded in 1996 and headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Originally known as GRP Partners (Global Retail Partners), it rebranded and built one of LA's most active early-stage portfolios, with 205+ companies backed across AI, SaaS, healthcare, consumer, and enterprise.

Where is Upfront Ventures headquartered?+

Upfront Ventures is headquartered in Santa Monica, United States.

When was Upfront Ventures founded?+

Upfront Ventures was founded in 1996 by Yves Sisteron.

What sectors does Upfront Ventures invest in?+

Upfront Ventures focuses on generalist, ai, saas, fintech, healthcare, consumer, enterprise. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Upfront Ventures?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated June 5, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

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