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“We are like the young kid rearing to go.”
This is what Managing Partner Tianxiang “TX” Zhuo said about Karlin Ventures, an arm of Karlin Asset Management that invests $100,000 to $1.5 million in each of its companies.
“I think we are at a very unique spot right now because we are a new fund; we have only allocated a small percentage of our capital,” Zhuo said.
[ibimage==26881==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-right]This position creates a lot of growth opportunities for Karlin over the next few months to “write bigger checks,” Zhuo said, and to experiment with non-traditional ways of funding like working with accelerators, incubators and universities.
“We are going to be part of a pretty big accelerator that’s happening in LA… without giving details right now, that’s what we will focus on,” Zhuo said.
No matter the avenue, Karlin’s goal is for LA entrepreneurs to find capital, which is the reason it was set up a year ago by inventor Dr. Gary Michelson (who holds more patents than Thomas Edison: 1,200!).
“We have an individual, Dr. Gary Michelson, who is very invested in the LA entrepreneurial community, so we are not going to be a short-term stay: we are here for the long run,” Zhuo said.
Not only will Karlin be a long-term player in the entrepreneurial community, but it is already a long-term advocate for its companies, whether it is through participating in future financing rounds or through Zhuo speaking weekly with company CEOs.
Karlin invests in about 10 companies a year in the financial services, digital media, eCommerce and education fields, such as gift card management app Gyft and mobile advertising agency StrikeAd.
In order to increase the support of its companies and of the community as a whole, Zhuo said Karlin is determined to expand: “Whether it is increasing our team with Arteen Arabshahi, increasing our check size or increasing our bandwidth to not only focus on traditional venture investment and starting something new of our own, we have a very aggressive growth strategy over the next couple of years.”
