Foothill Ventures, a technology-focused venture fund based in Los Altos, California, has announced the first close of its third fund at over $50 million, according to a company announcement published via WeChat on Tuesday.
Previously known as Tsingyuan Ventures, the firm was rebranded as Foothill Ventures in July 2021 and focuses on early-stage investing in the Chinese diaspora in North America as well as the region’s up-and-coming technical founders from diverse backgrounds.
According to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated June 13, the new vehicle — Foothill Ventures III LP — received $47.6 million in commitments from 47 limited partners (LPs). The minimum investment accepted from an outside investor was $500,000.
Foothill Ventures targets pre-seed, seed, and Series A opportunities across software, life science, and deep tech, counting San Francisco, California-based cross-channel marketing platform Iterable, Chinese self-driving startup WeRide, and Milpitas, California-based inventor of memory machine software MemVerge, among some of its portfolio companies.
Founded in 2017, Foothill Ventures grew out of Silicon Valley’s early-stage venture capital firm Tsinghua Silicon Valley Capital, formerly TEEC Angel Fund, which is a series of funds raised and administered by the Tsinghua Entrepreneur and Executive Club. The club is an invite-only group of graduates from China’s top research university Tsinghua University.
The fundraising moves came a year and four months after the firm closed its second fund — Tsingyuan Ventures II LP — at $97.4 million, according to a SEC filing dated April 2022.