Cendana Capital: $2.7B+ NYC Seed VC Behind Figma, Notion, Loom — And the Firm Connecting Korea and Silicon Valley

Most venture capital articles are written for founders. This one is for the GPs. Cendana Capital does not invest in startups directly. Instead, it writes $10M to $20M checks to the seed and pre-seed VC funds that do — making it one of the most influential limited partners in the early-stage ecosystem, even though almost no founders have ever heard the name.

Founded around 2010 by Michael Kim, a Korean-American entrepreneur who transitioned from international relations and investment banking into Silicon Valley venture, Cendana has grown from a scrappy seed fund-of-funds into a $2.7 billion-plus AUM institution. The firm manages capital for a network of limited partners that includes Korean institutional investors, family offices, and global allocators seeking exposure to the earliest tier of the venture market. That Korean LP base is not incidental — it is structural. Kim built Cendana partly as a bridge: Korean capital looking for access to the deals flowing through Sand Hill Road, and Korean-born GPs looking for a warm introduction to a firm that understands both markets.

The thesis is clean. Cendana targets what it calls "funds with a discernible edge" — emerging managers and seed-stage VCs who have network effects, domain expertise, or ecosystem access that allows them to see deals before the rest of the market. The firm then asks one simple question before committing: can this GP get their portfolio companies to 10% ownership (seed) or 20% ownership (pre-seed)? Ownership matters because diluted founders and undercapitalized companies tend to struggle in later rounds. If the math does not work, Cendana passes.

That discipline has produced a portfolio with extraordinary outcomes. Cendana was an anchor LP in funds that backed Figma, Notion, Loom, Linear, and Bilibili — companies that collectively reshaped how software gets built, how teams collaborate, and how billions in value get created. None of those investments came from Cendana writing a check to the founders. They came from Cendana writing a check to the funds that wrote those checks — and then stepping back to let the GPs do the work.

Understanding Cendana matters for two audiences. Seed-stage fund managers looking for anchor capital need to understand what the firm actually values in a GP relationship. And startup founders who have raised from top-tier seed funds may not realize that the reason their fund had enough capital to write that first check traces back, in many cases, to Cendana's capital commitment to that fund.

Investment Focus & Thesis

Cendana's stated thesis is deceptively simple: "We focus on very early stage VC funds with a discernible edge, enabling GPs to secure outsized ownership in companies led by amazing founders." In practice, that means Cendana is not chasing the largest or most brand-name funds — it is looking for emerging managers who have a structural reason to see better deals than the rest of the market, and who have the judgment to back the right founders.

The firm filters opportunities through three lenses. First, portfolio construction: Cendana will only commit to funds where the math allows GPs to take meaningful stakes in portfolio companies. That means seed funds targeting at least 10% ownership per investment, and pre-seed funds targeting at least 20%. If the fund is too large for those targets — meaning it would need to write checks too big for the stage, diluting founders beyond what Cendana considers healthy — Cendana passes. Second, networks and ecosystems: Cendana looks for funds with a unique relationship to a founder community, geographic cluster, or domain vertical. Third, intangibles: the firm explicitly screens for what it calls "entrepreneurial spirit, niceness, and empathy" in the GPs it backs. The logic is that how a GP treats founders shapes outcomes, and Cendana has seen enough portfolio company drama to know that rough-edged GPs often create more problems than they solve.

Geographically, Cendana invests globally but allocates the majority of capital to U.S. emerging managers — recent fundraises show approximately 72% earmarked for U.S. seed funds, with the remainder split across international markets. The firm has been particularly active in the San Francisco Bay Area, but has backed funds across New York, Boston, Austin, and select international markets where the firm has trusted relationships.

Recent Investment Activity

Cendana has continued to expand its platform. The firm most recently co-led a $400 million venture capital secondaries fund alongside Kline Hill Partners, announced in April 2026 — a signal that the firm is not just deploying capital into primary fund commitments but is actively building a secondaries business to provide liquidity to GPs and LPs in a market where vintage 2019-2021 funds have faced extended hold periods.

Prior to that, Cendana closed a $470 million fund in September 2023, with $340 million (72%) allocated to U.S. emerging VCs. The firm has historically raised a new vehicle every two to three years, using each fund to expand its LP base and deepen relationships with existing GP partners.

The secondaries focus is a natural evolution. As the vc asset class matured, early Cendana LPs began asking for liquidity solutions. By partnering with Kline Hill on secondaries, Cendana can offer its GP portfolio a valuable tool — helping funds manage their own secondaries without forcing GPs to navigate unfamiliar buyers. This creates goodwill with the GP network while generating returns on a different part of the capital stack.

Portfolio VC Funds

Cendana does not publish a full list of its fund commitments, but public records,LP disclosures, and TechCrunch reporting confirm anchor investments in several marquee seed platforms. The list includes First Round Capital (one of the original seed-focused firms, with a portfolio spanning early Airbnb, Uber, and countless other hits), BoxGroup (the New York-based seed firm behind Figma, Loom, and Pitch), and Founder Collective (Boston-rooted seed fund with early positions in Crypto.com and Notion).

Beyond those, Cendana has been linked to early commitments to funds like Burst Capital, Precursor Ventures, and several emerging managers in the Korean-American founder ecosystem. The firm also backed funds with geographic focuses that dovetail with its LP base — Korean-focused or Korean-American founder funds that give Korean LPs a window into the next wave of Silicon Valley companies.

What makes the Cendana portfolio distinctive is the downstream exposure. Because the firm invests in seed funds that back generational companies, Cendana's actual economic exposure runs through names like Figma (acquired by Adobe for $20 billion), Notion (valued at $10 billion+), Loom (acquired by Atlassian), and Linear (still independent but valued in the billions). None of those exits came from Cendana's direct capital — they came from the funds that Cendana backed at the earliest stage.

The firm reports that its portfolio companies collectively number more than 5,700, with 170+ unicorns across funds it has backed over the past fifteen years. That is not a portfolio of companies — it is a portfolio of bets on the people who bet on companies.

What Cendana Looks For in a GP

Cendana is explicit about what it wants from the funds it backs. The GP must have a "discernible edge" — a structural, defensible reason why they see better deals or support founders better than the average seed fund. This is not about brand; it is about moat. A former operator turned investor with deep roots in a specific vertical has an edge. A fund with a unique founder community has an edge. A team that has a track record of identifying founders before they are obvious has an edge.

Portfolio construction discipline is non-negotiable. Cendana walks away from funds that are too large to maintain the ownership targets that Cendana believes produce good founder outcomes. A $200 million seed fund writing $2 million checks is not interesting to Cendana — the ownership math does not work for the GPs or the founders. Cendana wants funds that are appropriately sized for the stage: small enough to write meaningful checks, focused enough to develop genuine expertise.

Character matters. Cendana has said explicitly in interviews that it looks for GPs who are "nice" — who treat founders with respect, who do not over-manage, who are honest in diligence. The firm has seen too many cases where a rough-edged GP creates founder drama that bleeds into the LP relationship. Cendana prefers to back managers who will build lasting businesses and lasting reputations.

How to Connect With Cendana Capital

There is no application form. Cendana makes commitments based on relationships — typically initiated through the existing GP network, introductions from institutional LPs, or direct outreach from emerging managers who have built credibility in a specific founder community.

For seed fund managers seeking to build a relationship: the best path is through portfolio founders who can vouch for the GP's integrity and judgment. Cendana trusts the GPs it backs, and it trusts the founders those GPs back. A warm introduction from a founder in a Cendana-backed fund is the most efficient way to get a meeting.

For cold outreach: Cendana does accept direct inquiries, but the firm is highly selective. A credible cold introduction should include the fund's thesis, target fund size, typical check size, ownership targets, and a brief description of the GP's edge. Do not lead with returns — lead with why the fund is differentiated and why now. Cendana is more interested in the story of why this manager exists at this moment than in a list of successful exits.

For Korean GP founders or Korean-American managers: Cendana's Korean LP network creates a natural affinity. If you are building a fund with strong ties to the Korean founder diaspora, make that explicit upfront. It is part of Cendana's identity, and managers who share that background have a built-in conversational entry point.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Financial Infrastructure Behind the Fund

Running a fund-of-funds requires the same financial rigor as running a direct investment firm — just with an extra layer of reporting, GP communications, and LP relations stacked on top. Cendana's LPs expect institutional-grade financials, quarterly capital statements, and detailed GP performance updates. The GP portfolio companies Cendana backs face the same pressures: board governance, fundraising, and regulatory compliance.

Whether you are an emerging manager building your first fund data room or an established GP refining your LP reporting stack, professional financial infrastructure matters. Cendana's model — high-conviction, relationship-intensive, long hold periods — rewards managers who treat their books with the same seriousness as their portfolio companies.