PacRim Venture Partners

What PacRim Venture Partners does

PacRim Venture Partners (PVP) is a private venture capital firm incorporated in California and headquartered in Menlo Park. Founded in 1999 by Thomas J. Toy and Huoy-Ming Yeh, the firm invests primarily in early-stage technology companies in Silicon Valley and China, with limited partners drawn from the United States, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The firm reports a small team (1-10 employees) built around its two co-founders, supplemented by historical venture partner Peter Gardner, who now leads Startgrid.

PacRim's investment mandate spans diversified IT, CleanTech, and Healthcare companies, with a disclosed portfolio of approximately 15 names covering semiconductor/EDA (Apache, Teseda, Teja, IPextreme), solar energy (SunPower, Hanwha Q Cells), telecommunications (UTStarcom), e-commerce (CafePress), enterprise software (Sentilla, SignaCert, LiveCapital), wireless broadband (AirBand), military/defense electronics (White Electronic Designs), and medical imaging (U-Systems). The firm operates a classic early-stage, board-engaged venture model: it invests small equity tickets alongside marquee co-investors (Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, Battery Ventures, Softbank, Intel Capital, Siemens, Kleiner Perkins), then delivers board leadership, audit/compensation/governance committee service, and operational guidance through the exit.

The firm's economic engine is the standard VC dual of management fees on committed capital and carried interest on realized gains, neither of which is publicly disclosed. Demonstrated outcomes include NASDAQ IPOs for UTStarcom (2003), White Electronic Designs (2003), CafePress (2005), SunPower (2005), and Hanwha Q Cells, plus strategic acquisitions of Apache by ANSYS, LiveCapital by Dun & Bradstreet, Sentilla by Ericsson, SignaCert by Harris Corporation, and U-Systems by GE Healthcare. No AI-native, fintech, or post-2010 platform investments are evidenced in the input.

Name

PacRim Venture Partners

Legal name

PacRim Venture Partners

Website

https://pacrimpartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PacRim Venture Partners is a Menlo Park-based private venture capital firm founded in 1999 that invests in early-stage technology companies in Silicon Valley and China, with LPs from the U.S., Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Miscellaneous Financial Investment Activities (523999), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Early stage investing
• Technology venture capital
• Startup equity financing
• Venture capital funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: Returns generated from equity investments in early stage technology companies through IPOs and acquisitions. The firm has produced multiple successful exits including companies going public on NASDAQ (CafePress, Hanwha Q Cells, SunPower, UTStarcom, White Electronic Designs) and acquisitions by major corporations (Apache by ANSYS, LiveCapital by Dun & Bradstreet, Sentilla by Ericsson, U-Systems by GE Healthcare).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

PacRim Venture Partners is a private venture capital firm that makes equity investments in early stage technology companies in Silicon Valley and China. The firm provides portfolio companies with capital, board leadership, strategic guidance, operational expertise, and network access, with a focus on diversified IT, CleanTech, and Healthcare sectors.

Product overview

PacRim Venture Partners is a private venture capital firm founded in 1999, based in Menlo Park, California. The firm specializes in providing early-stage technology investment in Silicon Valley and China. The company does not offer technology products or services; rather, it provides venture capital financing and portfolio company support. The firm's portfolio spans diverse technology sectors including wireless broadband, semiconductor design software, e-commerce, solar energy, photonics, enterprise software, and healthcare technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Early Stage Venture Capital Investment

Named customers14 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• SmartForest Ventures: Pacific Rim-focused early-stage technology VC where PacRim co-founder Thomas J. Toy was previously a Partner. Explicit precursor firm with overlapping tech-sector investment thesis and Silicon Valley / Asia orientation.
• Startup Capital Ventures: Early-stage technology VC where Thomas J. Toy concurrently serves as Managing Director. Same diversified IT/CleanTech/Healthcare seed and Series A orientation and similar team scale, making it a directly comparable operating peer to PacRim.
• ICCP Venture Partners: Pacific Rim technology VC where Thomas J. Toy serves as Venture Partner/Advisor. Comparable early-stage technology focus and US–Asia cross-border orientation, supporting the same investor base geography as PacRim.
• CSC Upshot Ventures: Early-stage technology venture fund co-founded by PacRim co-founder Huoy-Ming Yeh prior to PacRim. Same Silicon Valley tech orientation, similar team scale and stage focus — a direct operational ancestor of PacRim.
• DCM: Cross-border US–Asia early-stage technology VC that has co-invested with PacRim (e.g., in SignaCert alongside Harris Corporation acquisition). Most directly comparable US/China venture peer given similar stage, sector, and bilateral deal-sourcing model.
• Sevin Rosen Funds: Long-standing early-stage technology VC that co-invested with PacRim in AirBand. Closest comparable on team-size profile and stage focus, both investing from a permanent capital base into US technology seed and Series A rounds.

Broad incumbents

• Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers: Large, established early-stage technology VC that co-invested with PacRim in LiveCapital (acquired by Dun & Bradstreet). Overlapping sector and stage focus but at materially larger AUM and headcount.
• Sequoia Capital: Premier early-stage technology VC that co-invested in CafePress with PacRim. Same seed/early tech focus and adjacent board-level value-add, but at vastly greater scale and global reach.
• Mayfield Fund: Early-stage enterprise and infrastructure technology VC that co-invested with PacRim in Teja (multi-core processor platform). Comparable stage and operating playbook at a much larger fund and team.
• Battery Ventures: Early-stage technology VC that co-invested with PacRim in AirBand. Same sector and stage orientation as PacRim but with broader sector breadth and a substantially larger investment team.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments18 records

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

Frequently asked questions about PacRim Venture Partners