Kara Nortman — Upfront Ventures

Co-Managing Partner

THE LATEST: When Nortman was made a co-managing partner last year, Upfront Ventures said it marked the first time that a major venture capital firm had promoted a woman to that position from within. Historically, women in the VC industry have had to launch their own funds to assume a leadership role. Over the past year, Upfront has invested tens of millions of dollars in Los Angeles-based companies, including Santa Monica-based Bird Rides Inc., Palms-based Bionaut Labs, Santa Monica-based Valence Enterprises Inc., Marina del Rey-based Open Raven Inc., Glendale-based Britive Inc. and Palms-based Wave. Upfront says that 30% of venture capital checks this year were written into Los Angeles companies, most of which are not yet announced.
BACKGROUND: Nortman is a founding member of San Francisco-based All Raise, which is dedicated to diversity in entrepreneurs and VC funders, and a co-founder of Angel City Football Club, a National Women’s Soccer League expansion team expected to begin play in L.A. in 2022. Before joining Upfront in 2014, Nortman co-founded Moonfrye, a children’s ecommerce company, and spent nearly seven years at New York-based IAC where she was senior vice president and general manager of Urbanspoon and Citysearch. She also served as a board member to Hatch Labs, IAC’s mobile technology incubator, where she was the seed investor in Tinder.
YEARS ON THE LA500: 1
Return to the 2021 edition of the LA500.