February 2021 recap After starting January, with a long list of developments, we expected February to be a little quieter. Despite being three days shorter, we still got a lot done!
New investment completed: This month we executed investments in two new companies. Unfortunately, because of fundraising rules, we aren’t allowed to tell you about them! But don’t worry, we will! Instead, we shared our 2020 investing activity highlights. 2020 was, despite everything, our second-busiest year on record. 2021 will be even bigger thanks to all the new members of our flock.
Angel tax credits: February is when angel investor tax credits award letters are received. We therefore start getting requests to help people outside of South Carolina, who have the credits but generally can’t use them, sell the credits to South Carolinians. Thanks to a new partnership with the SC Conservancy Exchange, we can do this faster and more efficiently than ever before.
K-1s: February is also the worst month for taxes, where K-1s from VentureSouth investment entities are prepared and sent to members. Everyone hates it, but what are you gonna do? The only things that makes it slightly enjoyable are the Section 1202 exemption and getting to work with the team at Bauknight, Pietras & Stormer – long-time sponsor and supporter at VentureSouth. Thanks Ben Glenn and the team for all their expertise and hard work.
And everything else: Again under the waterline we paddle like a duck possessed. Activities this month also included:
- Two member meetings, a screening meeting, a member education workshops on valuations and cryptocurrency, and public education events and an Introduction to Early Stage Deal Terms.
- Onboarding 12 new members to VentureSouth– especially to our new VentureSouth Richmond group – and welcoming back even more existing members passing their anniversary.
- Screening: engaging with 20 companies ahead of our March screening meeting.
- Diligence work: Completing our diligence on our February new company, and kicking off the work on the March company.
- Portfolio monitoring: receiving, digesting, and understanding updates from all the outstanding portfolio companies on 2020 and looking ahead to 2021. We also heard from six companies at our regular “portfolio day”, and from a new portfolio services provider helping our companies with international transactions and expansion.
If you would like to be a part of VentureSouth activities for March, you can join us at our next “Intro to VentureSouth” meeting on March 17th at this link. No obligation, and if you hate it we’ll give you the money back. (Yes, it’s free!)