LA Based,
Nationwide Reach

Your tireless partners, committed to fueling your entrepreneurial journey.

Fika was founded in Los Angeles in 2017 when the idea of a B2B-focused seed fund was still hard to imagine. Since then, we’ve grown from a small team of 4 to a nimble but mighty team of 11, all based in LA but nationwide in our presence and reach.

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Investment Team

Platform Team

Venture Partners

TX Zhuo

General Partner

TX Zhuo

General Partner

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Philz Coffee

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

Vertical SaaS, Fintech, and Cybersecurity

What did you do before joining Fika?

I'm an entrepreneur at heart and have been involved with startups since my college days, where I started then successfully sold an online college textbook marketplace. After a stint at McKinsey where I was a core member of their financial services and consumer goods practices, I came back to my roots and worked for Innovation Endeavors, a seed stage venture fund backed by Eric Schmidt. In 2012, I co-founded Karlin Ventures, based in Los Angeles, where I served as the managing partner for 4 years before co-founding Fika Ventures.

What’s your VC superpower?

Saying no to investments in a respectful way while still trying to provide some value to them and coming up with jokes during every meeting :)

What’s your best habit?

My wife says this is my worst habit but IMHO, my zero inbox policy and doing everything that can be done in <2 mins right away is my best habit.

investment-team

John Chen

General Partner

John Chen

General Partner

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

If we're going out, then Go Get Em Tiger. But truthfully, I much prefer making my own coffee with my Chemex and hand grinder. Happy to brew a cup for founders at any time as part of Fika's VC value add :)

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

B2B software, AI, and dev tools.

What did you do before joining Fika?

I've spent my entire early career working with SaaS founders, both on the operating and investing side. Was lucky to start my journey at Box as Chief of Staff to Aaron Levie. Loved working with him as a founder, and it was an incredible time to be there pre-IPO because the Box mafia all ended up joining great SaaS companies, or starting great SaaS companies. I later joined one of Box's investors, Emergence Capital (early backers of Zoom, Salesforce, Veeva, Yammer, Gusto, etc.).

What’s your go-to playlist at work?

I did a cappella in college, so always playing the power ballads greats on repeat: Chris Stapleton, Teddy Swims, Sam Smith, and Brandi Carlile.

What’s your favorite hobby?

Love all racket sports — always down for tennis, pickleball, or ping pong anytime.

Who do you most look up to?

My dad. He came to the US in the 80's with just a high school degree and spoke zero English. He actually missed his first day of work in America because he accidentally rode his bicycle onto a freeway (he had never seen one before). 30 years later he put two kids through college, completely paid off his mortgage, and is happily retired with my mom. So many lessons around the compounding results of facing uncertainty one day at a time.

investment-team

Arteen Arabshahi

General Partner

Arteen Arabshahi

General Partner

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Bar Nine, but I’m biased as I live down the street :)

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

I spend most of my time looking at B2B or B2B2C marketplaces and have a pension for the intersection of technology and “real world industries.” I like to say I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel but rather put grease on it. This interest and my time at Route lend themselves to investing in categories like commerce enablement, supply chain, logistics, business-in-a-box, and other software opportunities that impact real-world businesses and small businesses.

What did you do before joining Fika?

I have lived two careers now as both a VC and an operator. Most recently, I was SVP of Strategy at Route.com from Series A to over $100M+ in revenue. Before Route, I spent 7 years as an investor, most relevantly as a founding member here at Fika Fund 1. And before that, my career started via a combination of hustle (cold emails) and luck that landed me opportunities like Techstars Chicago in the formative accelerator years and launching BuiltinLA.com at the start of LA’s most recent tech boom.

What’s your VC superpower?

I’ve spent my entire career trying to build authentic community and I’m not shy about spreading the love. I started my VC career by saying, “I don’t know the answer, but I’ll find you someone who does”. This approach helped me curate quite a wide network of relationships I value. Now, I think I have a good sense of a lot of the dilemmas founders will face, but I still leverage the people around me to fill in the blanks and help companies win together.

What’s your favorite question to ask founders when you first meet?

What is your “why”? I think we often get hung up on the tactical, but when things get hard, the why is usually what makes founders persevere. There are no easy buckets in entrepreneurship, and it’s important to identify if you’re in it for sustainable reasons.

investment-team

Matt Hersh

Operating Partner

Matt Hersh

Operating Partner

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Any place pouring a single origin Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

Fintech, Proptech, and Insurtech.

What did you do before joining Fika?

I have two decades of hands-on operational experience across both early and growth-stage companies. I began my career as part of the founding team of JetBlue through their IPO in 2002. After stints at Apple and Redpoint Ventures, I co-led fintech business development at financial software and data giant Yodlee prior to their acquisition by Envestnet in 2015. After Yodlee, I became the Head of Business Development at Factual before their merger with FourSquare in 2020 where I focused on sales, partnerships, and strategy across enterprise software, financial services, and retail industries.

What’s your VC superpower?

Unlocking revenue and growth opportunities within our portfolio, starting with the top of the funnel and all the way through to close.

What book do you recommend most frequently?

From Strength to Strength

investment-team

platform-team

Gabriella Brignardello

Principal

Gabriella Brignardello

Principal

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Super Domestic Coffee in Culver City!

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

Fintech, proptech/construction tech, and vertical SaaS.

What did you do before joining Fika?

I'm a proud first-generation American and SoCal native with a strong affinity for solving problems and tackling puzzles. I began my career at Parthenon-EY, a global strategy consulting firm, working across industrials, technology, and consumer practices. After three years in consulting, I transitioned into venture at WndrCo, a consumer tech holding company, where I focused on everything from sourcing deals to strategic initiatives for the portfolio. Alongside my career, I’ve been deeply committed to Mi Casa de Angeles, the 501c3 nonprofit I founded in 2009 with the mission of improving education in underserved communities in Peru, my father’s home country.

What’s your favorite hobby?

Three-way tie between playing board games (🐏🌾🪨 IYKYK), doing the WSJ crossword on Saturday mornings, and hand drawing punny birthday cards.

What’s your go-to playlist at work?

White Noise 10 Hours

investment-team

James Shecter

Vice President

James Shecter

Vice President

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Good People Cafe in West LA!

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

Data and developer tools, genAI apps, and vertical SaaS.

What did you do before joining Fika?

Born and raised in Philadelphia, my immersion into the world of entrepreneurship and venture capital began as an undergraduate, when I worked as a strategist and consultant to several student-run startups (including Seated and Transcend). I began my career at Citibank NYC providing multi-stage M&A advisory across aerospace and business services sectors. I then transitioned to Lee Equity (a middle-market PE firm) where I worked on several transactions across fintech/insurtech and healthcare. Most recently, I worked at 9Yards Capital (a growth-stage VC headquartered in LA) during which the firm deployed >$50 million into fintech, logistics, and enterprise startups including Chainalysis, LeafLink, and Remote HR. I also serve as co-lead of The MBA Fund, an institutional seed fund backing entrepreneurs from the Harvard, Stanford, and UPenn ecosystems. Since my high school days, I’ve remained active in mentoring, tutoring, and coaching inner-city Philadelphia students.

What’s your favorite hobby?

I love to surf, read, and write (typically not simultaneously), and I’m striving to build a collection of guitars as functional decoration for my future home.

What’s your VC superpower?

More of an aspiration than a superpower—but I believe early-stage VC requires “superperception”, which I’ve written about here. I’m also primed from my prior PE and growth investing experiences, so I’m particularly attuned to unit economics and KPIs, and I love helping founders understand these drivers more deeply.

What’s your best habit?

My daily wake-up yoga flow.

investment-team

Olivia Pittard

Associate

Olivia Pittard

Associate

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Millcross Coffee Bar!

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

All B2B! But Vertical SaaS, Commerce, Logistics, and SaaS for Hardware Businesses are a few of my favorite categories.

‍What did you do before joining Fika?

Born in Berkeley and raised in Denver, I pursued a classical education, double majoring in Philosophy and the History of Math and Science with minors in Linguistics and Comparative Literature. After completing my studies, I relocated to Los Angeles to join Amplify.la, a leading pre-seed firm specializing in B2B Software investments. While at Amplify.la, I sourced deals across a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, logistics, and government contracting. After spending years studying ancient technological advancements, I was eager to seek out contemporary breakthroughs. This is what ultimately led me to pursue a career in venture, one where my days are spent happily sourcing, and serving, the most tenacious founders.

What would you do for work if not this?

After becoming obsessed with Top Chef: Just Desserts, I worked in professional kitchens throughout middle school and parts of high school, so…Pastry Chef? Alternatively, I do love politics, so maybe POTUS?

What’s the best advice you ever received?

Don’t you dare take the LSAT (thanks Mom and Dad!)

What book do you recommend most frequently?

Toss up between Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Milton’s Paradise Lost.

investment-team

Ju-Djuin Csontos

Head of Marketing and Community

Ju-Djuin Csontos

Head of Marketing and Community

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Cafe Nido in Silverlake.

What did you do before joining Fika?

I began my career as an early employee (#33) at Hulu, where I led internal communications and culture building for more than 200 employees. After my stint in the startup world, I joined Kleiner Perkins, where I was responsible for building the KPCB brand by nurturing strong relationships with the firm’s portfolio companies and broader entrepreneurial community. Most recently, I served as the Head of Community for 5 years at early-stage venture capital firm Canaan Partners, where I oversaw events, community and portfolio services.

What would you do for work if not this?

An international ambassador, mainly because I’m a big linguaphile and it would be a dream to communicate across diverse languages and cultures.

What’s the best advice you ever received?

Come to the table with solutions and not just problems.

What podcast do you recommend most to founders?

This is a shameless plug! I’m super proud of Fika’s Pour Over podcast, where we “pour over” (Fika pun intended) the remarkable journey of inspiring founders and CEOs.

platform-team

Natalie Paz

CFO

Natalie Paz

CFO

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Dutch Bros Coffee

What did you do before joining Fika?

Born in Los Angeles, I always had the entrepreneurship bug, from selling lollipops on the playground to trading cards to get the high value ones for collectible card games to sell at the local card show. Out of college, I worked at a Big 4 accounting firm to obtain my CPA and diverse public/private company auditing experience. Moved into consulting including starting my own firm in 2008 which I exited in 2020 after helping build a successful fund administration practice. Retired until TX’s quarterly phone calls brought me out of it.

What’s the best advice you ever received?

It will all work out.

What advice are you glad you ignored?

Nobody will just walk up to you with a job.

What’s your favorite hobby?

Soccer

platform-team

Aaron Szekel

Venture Partner

Aaron Szekel

Venture Partner

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Felix Roasting Company on Park Ave South (NYC), Verve Coffee in WeHo (LA); or the imported beans I get from Cerini Coffee in the Bronx.

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

Healthcare + CHRO/CFO/GC Products.

What did you do before joining Fika?

Aaron has previous experience operating, advising, and consulting at the earliest stages, in both NYC and LA. He was one of the earliest hires at Flatiron Health, focussing on strategic projects, finance and operations, and has additional early experience with Level and Ostro (co-founding advisor). Prior to these operating roles, Aaron was at First Round Capital for their early funds, and has M&A experience from roles in banking and corporate development. Over the years, Aaron has been an active angel investor, with over 25 investments and works with a number of the most prominent healthcare systems, payors and life science companies.

What’s your VC superpower?

Feeling like more than just an investor to the Founding team. I aim to be an embedded team member providing actionable guidance and network unlocks.

What would you do for work if not this?

Hopefully a sports broadcaster. I grew up listening to Chick Hearn’s “word’s eye view” on my radio. If I wasn’t doing this, hopefully I would have been 10% as good as Chick was, doing that.

venture-partners

investment-team

Tracy Meng

Venture Partner

Tracy Meng

Venture Partner

What’s your favorite coffee shop for Fika with founders?

Cafe Réveille

What sectors do you invest in at Fika?

Fintech and SaaS.

What advice are you glad you ignored?

“You can have it all"—tbh, this is simply not true. Life is full of trade-offs and how you prioritize your resources (time, energy, money) says everything about what you value and who you are as a person, and often determines how effective you are in achieving your goals. Quality relationships often come at the cost of quantity. Building and shipping great products require identifying and saying no to distractions. I’ve come to embrace these trade-offs and limitations because they make the relationships and work I prioritize all the more meaningful.

What’s your favorite hobby?

Pilates because my aging body can’t handle high-impact workouts anymore.

venture-partners

investment-team

LA Based, Nationwide Reach

LA Based,
Nationwide Reach