US-based venture capital fund Hustle Fund has closed its first fund at $11.5m, having secured capital from limited partners (LPs) including game publisher Shanda, messaging platform Line and internet company Naver, E27 has reported.
Hustle Fund 1’s LPs also include founders and executives of apparel retailer Zappos, customer experience software provider Optimizely and personal finance platform NerdWallet. It had set a $50m target according to a September 2017 securities filing.
The fund makes pre-seed investments in software developers based in Southeast Asia and North America. It invests an initial $25,000 in each portfolio company, instigating a four-to-six week growth project with each, and has backed 40 companies across the US and Canada.
Hustle’s co-founders and general partners are Shiyan Koh, formerly vice-president of business operations and corporate development for NerdWallet, Eric Bahn, an ex-venture partner at VC firm 500 Startups, and Elizabeth Yin, formerly a partner at 500 Startups.
Tianqiao Chen, founder and chairman of Shanda, said: “Due to Shanda’s mission to support young entrepreneurial talents who are, innovative and solid in execution, we backed up Hustle Fund because they checked these criteria.”