CSC Upshot

What CSC Upshot does

CSC Upshot Ventures is a Palo Alto-based early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2015 by Ming Yeh in partnership with AngelList and CSC Group. The firm raised a $400 million seed fund in October 2015, anchored by Chinese private equity firm CSC Group and Baidu, with the mandate of providing seed capital to US technology companies in enterprise software, artificial intelligence, healthcare, fintech, and marketplace sectors. The fund operates as a cross-border investment vehicle channeling Asian capital into Silicon Valley startups, leveraging AngelList's platform for deal sourcing, syndication, and back-office operations.

The firm's underlying technology stack is AngelList's venture platform, which handles deal flow, investment management, and LP administration. CSC Upshot itself does not develop proprietary technology products. The portfolio spans roughly dozens of seed-stage companies, with documented outcomes including the Sezzle IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange (July 2019), the acquisition of OpenGov by Cox Enterprises, a $198M BioAge IPO validating its obesity drug pivot, and May Mobility's $105M Series D led by NTT.

CSC Upshot's revenue model follows the traditional venture capital structure: management fees (typically ~2% of committed capital on the $400M AUM) plus carried interest on realized investment gains. The firm is parented under CSC Group, a Chinese private equity firm, and operates with a lean three-person team (Founder & Partner Ming Yeh, CFO Anuja Lele, and Finance and Operations Manager Aasawari Chitnis). Distribution is concentrated through AngelList's platform and direct founder relationships, with thought leadership amplified via a Seed-Stage Report co-developed with PitchBook and a LinkedIn and AngelList content presence.

Name

CSC Upshot

Legal name

CSC Upshot Ventures

Website

https://csc-upshot.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CSC Upshot Ventures is a Palo Alto-based early-stage venture capital fund founded in 2015 that manages a $400 million seed vehicle, channeling Chinese capital (CSC Group, Baidu) into US technology startups across enterprise, AI, healthcare, fintech, and marketplace sectors via the AngelList platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital / Seed-Stage Investment

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

akta.pro primary industry

Captive CVC Fund (Dedicated corporate fund structure) (FSANAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Joint Venture CVC / Consortium Funds (Multi-corporate) (FSANAHAE), Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)

Keywords

• Seed-stage venture capital
• Early-stage technology investing
• Startup seed funding
• Venture fund management
• Cross-border technology investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Management: CSC Upshot generates revenue through traditional venture capital mechanisms including management fees charged on committed capital and carried interest (carry) on investment returns. The fund raised $400M in its initial seed fund in partnership with AngelList and CSC Group.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CSC Upshot Ventures is an early-stage venture fund founded in 2015 that provides seed capital at scale to technology companies. The firm invests in startups operating in enterprise software, artificial intelligence, healthcare, fintech, and marketplace sectors, operating in close partnership with AngelList and sourcing capital from China-based investors including CSC Group and Baidu to bridge US-Asia technology investment.

Product overview

CSC Upshot Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund that provides seed capital to technology companies at scale. The firm operates as a single investment vehicle rather than a product platform with modules. Their core service offering is venture investment management, connecting capital sources (primarily from China, represented by CSC Group and Baidu) with innovative US technology startups. They work in close partnership with AngelList to facilitate startup investing. The firm focuses on investments in enterprise, artificial intelligence, healthcare, Fintech, and marketplace sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CSC Upshot Ventures Seed Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple portfolio companies have achieved significant exits including Sezzle IPO and OpenGov acquisition
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AngelListcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2015AngelList is CSC Upshot's key platform partner, providing infrastructure for deal sourcing, investment management, and LP investor relations. The partnership was established in 2015 to build 'a new model of venture investing based on the needs of founders, investors and startup communities.' AngelList powers CSC Upshot's seed fund operations and enables access to their extensive startup ecosystem.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Emerging players

• SOSV: Global accelerator and seed VC running multiple vertical programs (Hax, IndieBio, Chinaccelerator). Emerging peer in seed-stage deployment at scale with global footprint, though broader in scope and accelerator-led rather than corporate-backed.
• Cowboy Ventures: Early-stage venture fund focused on seed and Series A in enterprise and consumer tech. Emerging peer in seed-stage focus and comparable check sizes, but without CSC Upshot's cross-border differentiation or corporate LP structure.

Direct peers

• Founders Circle Capital: Early-stage venture firm operating on AngelList platform with focus on community-driven investing. Direct peer in platform dependency and seed-stage focus, though with less explicit US-China cross-border emphasis.
• Northern Light Venture Capital: US-China cross-border venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies. Direct peer given similar thesis of bridging US tech innovation with Chinese capital, comparable fund structure, and overlapping portfolio themes in enterprise and healthcare.
• Baidu Ventures: Corporate venture arm of Baidu investing in US and global AI/tech startups. Direct peer because Baidu is also an LP in CSC Upshot, and the firm operates a similar cross-border investment mandate with Chinese corporate backing.
• ChinaRock Capital Management: Cross-border VC firm focused on connecting US tech innovation with Chinese capital sources. Direct peer in thesis and operational model—channeling Chinese LPs into US seed and early-stage deals, with comparable target sectors.
• zPark Ventures: Early-stage venture firm with Chinese roots investing in US enterprise, AI, and frontier tech startups. Direct peer given similar cross-border thesis, comparable check sizes at seed, and overlap with CSC Upshot's enterprise and AI focus areas.

Others

• Plug and Play Tech Center: Global innovation platform and CVC operating accelerator programs with corporate partners including Asian multinationals. Adjacent peer in corporate-backed startup engagement, though primarily an accelerator and ecosystem platform rather than a dedicated seed fund.
• SVB Capital (Silicon Valley Bank Capital): Investment arm of Silicon Valley Bank managing fund-of-funds and direct VC investments. Adjacent peer because Ming Yeh headed SVB Capital's Asia practice prior to founding CSC Upshot, sharing operational DNA in VC fund management and US-China capital flows.

Broad incumbents

• 500 Global (500 Startups): Large global seed-stage accelerator and fund-of-funds with multi-region programs including Asia. Broad incumbent in seed-stage tech investing at scale, with overlapping portfolio themes but a fundamentally different accelerator-driven model versus CSC Upshot's pure fund approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/csc-upshot-ventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments348 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CSC Upshot