Pritzker Group Venture Capital (PGVC), one of the most active and high-profile VC firms based in Chicago, announced Tuesday morning that it's expanding its presence in Los Angeles, relocating partner Gabe Greenbaum and vice president Peter Liu to its LA office.
Over the past several years, the firm has invested in over 20 LA-area companies, including Dollar Shave Club, Honest Company, Hello Giggles, AwesomenessTV, BigFrame, and Pluto.TV. According to PGVC, the move supports the firm's efforts to "materially increasing its on-the-ground presence" in Los Angeles.
"We’re bringing two of our best to expand our LA presence," explained Tony Pritzker, managing partner of Pritzker Group. "Gabe has led a number of the firm’s investments, such as X.ai, Catalytic, Augury, Hightower and AiCure, across our four main focus areas. He and Peter Liu are a perfect complement to the expanding LA technology ecosystem."
PGVC has already registered several successful exits with its LA investments, including Dollar Shave Club, which sold to Unilever for a reported $1 billion earlier this year, Hello Giggles, which sold to Time in 2015, and AwesomenessTV and BigFrame, which both sold to DreamWorks. Honest Company, the consumer goods startup founded by actress Jessica Alba, has been involved in acquisition talks with Unilever this summer for a reported $1 billion+.
Though PGVC is expanding its presence in LA, its investment philosophy will remain the same, with the firm maintaining an early stage focus with checks ranging from $3 million to $8 million. The firm, which typically invests $15 million to $20 million over the life of its investment, also has the flexibility to deploy up to $50 million in any one company, it says.
Added Greenbaum, “In addition to being a value-added partner for entrepreneurs, with the Pritzker network that spans more than 20 years of investing and building businesses with key stakeholders, we’re also a deep pocketed partner that scales as our entrepreneurs scale."
Pritzker Group Venture Capital, founded in 1996 led by Tony and J.B. Pritzker, counts over 150 companies in its portfolio and has seen a number of investments exit in recent years, including Cleversafe, acquired by IBM for $1.3 billon, and Viv Labs, which was acquired by Samsung earlier this fall.
(Image via Pritzker Group VC)
