Investors & Partners at Crosscut Ventures
2 investors at Crosscut Ventures, based in Los Angeles, CA with $300M under management.
Back to Crosscut Ventures profile
Jon Ylvisaker
Partner, Crosscut Ventures
Jon Ylvisaker is a Partner at Crosscut Ventures, the Los Angeles early-stage venture firm, where he leads its investment strategy in frontier energy, power and advanced manufacturing and supports follow-on and thesis-driven investments in growth-stage frontier technology companies. He joined Crosscut in December 2024, bringing more than 25 years of investment experience spanning startups and fully scaled companies in energy technologies and digital infrastructure, to help the firm scale Crosscut fund six and beyond. He was the founding partner and managing director of Yield Capital Partners, which he founded in 2013, and earlier was founder and portfolio manager of Wolfacre Global Management, a Tiger Management hedge fund. Ylvisaker holds a BA in history and a BS in economics from the College of Charleston.
Rick Smith
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR, Crosscut Ventures
Rick Smith brings an unusual blue-collar background to venture capital, having been adopted by high school dropout parents in Illinois where his father ran a small plumbing business, and working jobs from pipe fitting at nuclear plants to de-tasseling corn before becoming a lawyer and then VC. He built a $750 million corporate venture platform from scratch at SunAmerica despite initially knowing little about tech, then co-founded Crosscut as a $5 million fund during the 2008 financial crisis and grew it into a larger platform that has produced multiple unicorns from that original tiny fund.
About the Crosscut Ventures Team
Crosscut Ventures's investment team consists of 2 professionals, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and managing $300M in assets. The team brings diverse backgrounds and specialized expertise to evaluate and support portfolio companies.
Across the team, Crosscut Ventures's investors cover expertise in Climate, Aerospace & Defense, Space, Enterprise. This breadth of sector knowledge enables the firm to evaluate opportunities across multiple verticals and provide specialized post-investment support to founders.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many investors are at Crosscut Ventures?
Crosscut Ventures has 2 investors and partners on their team, based in Los Angeles, CA. Each team member brings specialized expertise across different sectors and investment stages.
Who are the partners at Crosscut Ventures?
Crosscut Ventures's team consists of 2 investment professionals. View individual investor profiles above for detailed backgrounds, focus areas, and portfolio companies.
How large is Crosscut Ventures?
Crosscut Ventures manages approximately $300M in assets under management with a team of 2 investment professionals, headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.
New VC funds, from the SEC
Know which VC funds filed with the SEC this month, before anyone announces them
Every new venture fund files a Form D before it closes. We read every filing, match it to the firm behind it, and send you what changed.