Upfront Ventures

Be sure to watch the full video! 👇

We are thrilled to announce the launch of JikoNet, a one-of-a-kind network that enables institutions to settle high-volume #transactions in real-time, while minimizing the counterparty and #liquidity risks that have long burdened previous settlement network solutions. At a time when safeguarding #investments and protecting short-term cash is vital, JikoNet builds on Jiko’s uniquely de-levered deposit model and modern #technology stack, keeping every dollar continuously invested in U.S. Treasury bills, ensuring unmatched safety, liquidity, and efficiency. Find more information about how JikoNet is redefining secure financial transfers: https://lnkd.in/dYM3Jm95 #Safety #Yield #DigitalAsset #Fintech #Innovation

For any founders, VCs, operators, etc in tech... you MUST watch Bill Gurley & Brad Gerstner chat in this 20 min macro overview talk from Upfront Ventures summit Lots of charts & thoughtful explanations on market sentiment. Can't recommend it enough! https://lnkd.in/dyKktyra

Upfront Summit 2025 was truly one for the books! Huge thanks to Mark Suster, Aditi Maliwal, and the Upfront Ventures team for bringing together top minds in AI, venture, and innovation. 💡 Key Insights: 🔹 Vinod Khosla – AI will go beyond copilots to full automation; bipedal robots could surpass the auto industry. 🔹 Michael Eisenberg – Israel’s challenges are shaping resilient “wartime CEOs”. 🔹 Shervin Pishevar – Predicts 2025 as the year of AGI 1.0, marking the start of a new civilization. Venture studios and bold new technologies will lead the next generation of innovation. 🔹 Mike Maples – 85% of big startups pivot early; founders should focus on deep obsessions. 🔹 Chelsea Clinton – Progress isn’t success—more investment in healthcare and education is needed. Excited to bring these insights back to Grand Ventures! Until next time, Upfront! 🚀 #UpfrontSummit #VentureCapital #AI #Startups #Innovation

Today, we're announcing a big update: AI-Powered Content Generation powered by Avery! We've quietly been testing this with our design partners and customers, and we've been hearing amazing feedback and seeing record publish rates. Building great content is hard. It takes time, many iterations, and upfront investment. That's why we're excited to announce Arcade Avery -- a faster way to build great Arcades. Take it for a spin today, or give us feedback. Read more about it here: https://lnkd.in/g2uNUTUd

#ICYMI 👋 some of our main stage content from the 2025 Upfront Summit can now be found on our YouTube page - You can watch sessions from speakers such as HRH Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran, Pat Grady of Sequoia Capital, as well as Prem Akkaraju of Stability AI and will.i.am of FYI.AI, and more. Check them out here: https://lnkd.in/gpa7iVxQ And keep an eye out for more videos to come!

Mark Suster, Kobie Fuller, and the entire Upfront Ventures team once again set the bar for what an impressive gathering of investors, founders, and industry leaders can look like. What made the event even more impressive was the resilience behind it. With the Los Angeles community still healing from the recent fires, the Upfront team made sure to pay respect by creating an environment that was not only inspiring but also deeply intentional, fostering real conversations about how we can build, invest, and support each other in times of challenge. They also took part in organizing and supporting the LA Tech Community Cares Fund, a meaningful pool of resources, connections, and expertise: https://lnkd.in/gXRdsSkS. Lasting impact comes from a strong community, visionary leadership, and a commitment to resilience - values that the Upfront Ventures summit showcased throughout the week and that I personally value tremendously. At Next Legacy Partners we are inspired daily by the men and women who are committed to making a lasting impact for good!!

A big thank you to everyone who's donated to The LA Tech Community Cares Fund! 100% of the funds raised will go directly to people in need across LA who were affected by the fires. If you missed the chance, you can still donate here: https://lnkd.in/gc4Kc_kv (any amount helps!) And a special out to the CoEfficient Labs team for helping us create this video to raise awareness during the Upfront Summit -

We’re proud to announce that Pragma received a $12.75M strategic investment from Square Enix, Greylock Partners, Upfront Ventures, Insight Partners and others! At Pragma, our mission is to build best-in-class technologies for game developers so they can focus on what they do best — creating incredible games. This investment is a major milestone that enables us to keep refining our core solutions, like the Pragma engine, and help studios fully realize their vision. Furthermore, we will continue expanding our capabilities, as seen in our recent acquisition and launch of FirstLook.gg — our new playtesting and community management tool that’s now powering +30 communities/studios since launching a couple months ago. Over the last 5 years, it’s been amazing to see the adoption of Pragma and to see us transition from a 2 person startup to the de facto AA/AAA PC/Console backend. We’ve powered over 40+ studios representing thousands of game developers, millions of players and we have even more in store for 2025 and beyond. We want to thank all our partners that we worked with, especially Hide Uehara at Square Enix, Kevin Zhang of Upfront, David Thacker of Greylock, and Nikhil Sachdev of Insight. Thank you for believing in the Pragma vision and team. Together, we are paving the way forward by empowering game studios to unlock their creative potential and build amazing games. If you’re interested in learning more about how the Pragma engine, FirstLook.gg or our co-dev team can help your game, let's connect! For more, see VentureBeat's coverage. Thanks Dean Takahashi! https://lnkd.in/gfpFSi7Z

🚀 Next Speaker Reveal! 🚀 Peter Zakin, Investor at Upfront Ventures, is joining Shift Miami 2025! 🎤 With a keen eye on AI startups and the future of developer tools, Peter will share insights into what investors look for in AI-driven innovation. 📅 May 6–7, 2025 📍 Miami, FL 🔗 Tickets: https://lnkd.in/djhxnFXh More announcements coming soon. Stay tuned! 👀 #ShiftMiami #Startups #AI