# Ron Burkle

> Ron Burkle is a seed investor at A-Grade Investments (London) backing E-Commerce and Retail. See 17 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [A-Grade Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/a-grade-investments)
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 17
- Last investment: Jan 2023
- Lead investor: 18%
- Last updated: Aug 2026

Ron Burkle is a seed investor at A-Grade Investments in London focused on E-Commerce and Retail. Ron Burkle has served as a member of Yahoo's board of directors since November 2001. Burkle is managing partner of The Yucaipa Companies, a private investment firm, which he co-founded in 1986. Burkle also serves as a director of Yucaipa Equity Partners, L.P., Occidental Petroleum Corp. and KB Home Corporation.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $2.3M–$16M |
| Debt Financing | $1.5M–$350M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E-Commerce | 4 | 24% |
| Retail | 3 | 18% |
| Apps | 2 | 12% |
| Sports | 2 | 12% |
| Software | 2 | 12% |

47 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 7 | 41% |
| Debt Financing | 2 | 12% |
| Series B | 1 | 6% |
| Series D | 1 | 6% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 6% |

8 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 11 | 65% |
| Brazil | 1 | 6% |
| Denmark | 1 | 6% |
| Germany | 1 | 6% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Spatial Labs | Spatial Labs exists to simplify and enhance people's lives by bridging the digital and physical worlds.We develop products and services that enable anyone to build and engage with experiences that inspire moments of joy, guided by our principles of sustainable innovation, self-expression, and cultural impact.Our mission is to maketechnology a natural extension of the human experience and empower people to create the world they wish to see.Spatial Labs is venture-backed and supported by notable VC’s such as Blockchain Capital, JAY-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners, and more.Spatial Labs has collaborated with and powered experiences for brands such as Adidas x Ivy Park, Tidal, Pantone, IKEA / Space10, Crocs, and more. | $10M | Seed | Jan 26, 2023 |  |
| Signa Sports United | SIGNA Sports United is a NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) listed specialist online sports retail company based in Berlin, Germany. We own companies and brands in various sports including bike, tennis, outdoor and team sports. We sell equipment and apparel via our 100 own online stores, collaborate with 500+ independent brick and mortar shops, andpartner with over 1000 sports brands.Signa Sports United was established in 2018 in Berlin, Germany. | $300M | Post-IPO Equity | Dec 15, 2021 |  |
| Steinberg Sports & Entertainment LLC | Steinberg Sports is a premier boutique agency for any individual, organization or entity seeking to add exceptional value to their endeavors |  | Secondary Market | Feb 17, 2021 |  |
| Swiftly | Swiftly is the AI platform purpose-built for retail, serving retailers, wholesalers, and brands. Swiftly's AI agents unify data, automate workflows, and power the marketing that drives measurable growth — connecting shopper engagement, operations, and personalized experiences into one intelligent platform. Swiftly AI is built on theindustry's largest proprietary retail dataset: live transactions, 9 million products, and the closed-loop campaign outcomes of 33,000 stores. That foundation powers faster decisions, smarter execution, and AI-native experiences across the retail ecosystem. Trusted by leading retailers, wholesalers, and hundreds of iconic brands, Swiftly accelerates growth, reduces operational drag, and sets a new standard for what AI can do in retail. | $15.6M | Seed | Sep 10, 2019 |  |
| Iris Nova | Iris Nova powers the SMS payment technology (conversational commerce), customer service, email marketing, fulfillment, and delivery infrastructure for a portfolio of the world's best CPG brands.This strategy was first executed with functional beverage brand DIRTY LEMON, which popularized text-messaging based direct-to-consumer sales when itlaunched in 2015. The brand has since scaled to over 200,000 customers, leveraging the data to provide a personalized experience and on-demand deliveries to customers nationwide.Iris Nova was formally launched as an evolution of this success, following a minority investment from The Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The Iris Nova platform enables a seamless, end-to-end solution for beverage brands prioritizing the direct to home channel as a core component of their distribution strategy. This includes same-day deliveries in major markets as well average national shipping speeds faster than Amazon Prime. As the space continues to evolve with new entrants and innovation, we believe this is the future of CPG distribution. | $15M | Seed | Dec 20, 2018 |  |
| Jaanuu | Jaanuu was founded to reimagine the multi-billion dollar medical apparel market via the industry's first contemporary, Antimicrobial-finished products. Since its launch, Jaanuu has sold product around the globe and has quickly become the fastest growing company in its category. For more information, please contact support@jaanuu.com. | $5M | Seed | Apr 19, 2017 |  |
| Jaanuu | Jaanuu was founded to reimagine the multi-billion dollar medical apparel market via the industry's first contemporary, Antimicrobial-finished products. Since its launch, Jaanuu has sold product around the globe and has quickly become the fastest growing company in its category. For more information, please contact support@jaanuu.com. |  | Seed | Dec 29, 2016 |  |
| IfOnly | IfOnly is a marketplace for incredible experiences. From unique everyday offerings with local experts to once-in-a-lifetime connections with lauded luminaries, IfOnly provides access to a curated selection of extraordinary experiences that benefit worthy causes around the world.Members enjoy amazing experiences that help them do somethingincredible every weekend. Engage with athletes, epicureans, artists, musicians, designers, and others who inspire shared interests, foster lasting memories, and benefit impactful causes.Luminaries can share their talent and build their business on the IfOnly marketplace. From meeting premium clientele to promoting their experiences in a curated, safe environment, top luminaries trust IfOnly to help them build their brand while benefiting important causes.At IfOnly, we believe that life is not about buying things, it's about the extraordinary experiences we remember and share.So, what’s your IfOnly? | $10.3M | Series B | Feb 08, 2016 |  |
| Heaps | Heaps lets groups of friends find, match and party with other groups of friends. 1) Create a group among you and your friends and choose a day to go out. 2) You can see all other groups going out on the same day. 3) Start chatting and meet up for an awesome party! Available in Los Angeles and Scandinavia. Requires Facebook login toensure valid profiles. |  | Seed | Nov 11, 2015 |  |
| Relationship Science | Relationship Science (RelSci) is a technology solutions company that helps individuals and organizations leverage their relationships for a competitive business advantage. The RelSci platform provides deep information about over 6 million influential decision makers - who they are and who they know, what you have in common with them, and how youcan gain access to them and their organizations. Our relationship mapping tool empowers you to discover new relationships, advance existing ones, and maximize every opportunity. | $31M | Series D | Apr 16, 2015 |  |

10 of 17 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [BAM Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bam-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [ACME Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/acme-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [AFSquare](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/afsquare) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [AME Cloud Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ame-cloud-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Amex Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/american-express-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Amplify.LA](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/amplify-la) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About A-Grade Investments

VC Fund · Los Angeles, United States

A-Grade Investments is a venture capital fund founded by long-time friends Ashton Kutcher, Guy Oseary, and Ron Burkle to opportunistically invest in technology start-up companies.

1 contacts available at A-Grade Investments.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ron Burkle | Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ron-burkle |

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## FAQ

### What does Ron Burkle invest in?

Ron Burkle invests primarily in E-Commerce, Retail and Apps startups, most often at Seed and Debt Financing stage. Most of the 17 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Ron Burkle's check size?

Ron Burkle typically joins rounds of $2.3M–$16M at Seed and $1.5M–$350M at Debt Financing. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Ron Burkle participates in.

### When did Ron Burkle last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Ron Burkle closed in Jan 2023. Shizune tracks 17 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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