Startup Capital Ventures

Startup Capital Ventures (SCV) is an early-stage venture firm founded in 2005 by John Dean and Danny Lui, headquartered in Silicon Valley with additional offices in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for cross-border China deals. Its thesis centers on capital-efficient companies, typically revenue-generating early-stage software businesses with pre-money valuations under $5M and a clear path to near-term profitability. SCV deliberately writes the $250K to $1M checks that many larger funds have outgrown, and backs strong management teams over pure technology. Geographically the firm concentrates on Silicon Valley with opportunistic deals in Hawaii, Texas and Oklahoma, plus China. It has made roughly 57 investments and recorded 12 exits, and acts as a lead investor. Notable portfolio and exit names include HYAS, a cybersecurity company acquired by Silent Push in December 2025; TuneIn, acquired by Stingray in November 2025; Shifted Energy, a cleantech business acquired by Resource Innovations in October 2025; reef.ai, its most recent investment in a March 2023 Seed round; plus BabyQuip and Iotera. General Partner Tim Dick has been a public voice on the firm's behalf, notably warning about the risks of the JOBS Act Title III crowdfunding rules. SCV's most recent named vehicle is Startup Capital Ventures Fund II. By focusing on lean, near-profitable software companies and writing the smaller checks larger funds avoid, the firm fills an early-stage gap while leveraging its US-Asia footprint to support founders.