October is in the books! It’s always a busy month, and so here is a quick recap of what we got up to before our trick-or-treaters got their candy.
Meetings:
In a regular month of in-person meetings, we saw live startup pitches and in-person discussion in Charlotte, Greenville, Asheville, Charleston, Greensboro, Durham, and Chattanooga – plus our monthly online meeting if none of those in-person meetings were convenient!
Thanks to everyone who joined us to pitch or update (six different companies - some existing portfolio companies, one soon-to-be portfolio company, and three potentially portfolio companies) and to hear and grill the pitchers.
Investments:
October was a fairly typical month for investing activity: VentureSouth’s angel investors and funds invested $902,248.57 this month.
(You don’t get to be the #1 most active angel group in the State of Startups if you don’t invest a bunch.)
This investment went to one new portfolio company (which we can’t publicly identify because the round is still open) and four follow-on rounds in existing portfolio companies.
One of those was an unusual “milestone” round, where we had committed last year to invest further funds if the startup hit certain milestones. They did, so we did.
VentureSouth members, alongside a wider set of investors interested in local alternative asset investments, also funded public investments through Vicinity Ventures, including closed rounds in 13 Stripes, Waters Edge Winery, and Carbon Country. You can check out these deals, and more at https://vicinityventures.co/ (You’ll need to be a VentureSouth for the private deals, of course.)
Diligence:
Behind the scenes, four companies pitched at our screening meeting at the beginning of the month, and two started our rigorous diligence gauntlet.
Portfolio:
Notable news from the portfolio in October included:
- Plantd officially announced its $22M Series B round.
- Zinnia won the HearstLab pitch competition
- twentyfour skincare launched product lines using both Zylo Therapeutics’ Z-pods and Yuva Bio’s Y100 ingredients in a great example of cross-portfolio pollination
- GoPivot launched a Wellness Program at The Sharon in South Park in Charlotte.
Out & About:
Paul welcomed VentureSouth member Dan Haight to the Venture in the South podcast (video channel here; or subscribe on Spotify etc.), David reviewed AI trends with portfolio company CEO Josh Miller, and we covered regulatory challenges and positive developments.
And, as usual, we participated in entrepreneur and investor events across the southeast. You might have seen:
- Jewel representing VentureSouth at the Venture Atlanta conference.
- Matt sharing his wisdom as a veteran entrepreneur with the Angel Capital Association.
- Paul helping Greensboro’s entrepreneurs with tips on how to raise capital; moderating a panel on valuating pre-revenue startups; and attending office hours at NEXT.
- Charlie spending time in Harrisonburg, VA - as well as selling beer at the Newberry Oktoberfest.
- Several team members helping with this season’s Clemens Angel Analyst program at Furman’s Hill Institute, covering diligence, team sheets, and cap tables.
- And more.
Team:
- On a sad note, Alex left us this month, to further his career in a new role in Fayetteville helping companies with their financials. Alex made VentureSouth better and did a great job tracking and helping our portfolio companies. We’ll miss his dedication, analytical rigor, and team spirit, and really do wish him the best of luck in his new role.
- And on the Halloween updates, we had Wednesday, Katniss Everdeen, and many other miscreants on the streets on 10/31. All are accounted for.