Among those stepping up to raise funds for Southern California wildfire victims are venture capitalists, both in the Los Angeles area and in the Bay Area. Venture capitalists are famous for raising lots of money quickly, and that’s needed in Southern California. They’re also known for putting money to work in the form of companies, and those companies are now helping, too. Assia Grazioli-Venier, co-founder of Santa Monica-based Muse Capital, was among those who had to evacuate. Her co-founder was also evacuated. “As I was evacuating with my husband, my 3-week-old newborn and my cat, I just felt natural that we also balance that with doing everything we can to support our community,” Grazioli-Venier said. Muse raised money and deployed its portfolio companies to help those in need – cash, health care, whatever they could, even as they themselves were struggling. “These are founders who are, many of them, themselves displaced,” Grazioli-Venier said. “I get chills just talking about it.” california wildfires Jan 10 ‘LA Strong' logo and custom shirts unveiled to aid Los Angeles wildfire recovery efforts california wildfires Jan 8 How you can help those affected by the California wildfires Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Convective Capital was also on the move, putting companies they fund, like BurnBot, to work helping the firefighting effort. “We need to do this yesterday. We see that this happened to a major metropolitan area and the devastation that it’s causing,” Convective Capital Principal Jay Ribakove said. “How can we act faster?” Convective specializes in fire prevention companies, funding close to two dozen of them. They’ll stay busy, while Muse focuses on getting care, via its companies, to those who need it. “It is comforting to see our investments going to good work during this time,” Grazioli-Venier said. Many of the venture capitalists in the Los Angeles area have started a WhatsApp group to stay in touch during the fires, coordinating what their portfolio companies can do to help while they fundraise.