VentureSouth announces $5.5 million of investments in first half of 2024
Twenty of the 24 went to existing portfolio companies. Firm also added two new groups in Savannah, GA and Melbourne, FL.
VentureSouth, one of the top 10 angel groups in North America, has announced investments totaling $5.5 million into 24 early stage companies in the first half of 2024. In addition to the investment activity and in spite of quieter M&A markets, the organization has also distributed nearly $2 million in returns to investors from investments made in previous years.
Like many other early stage investors, the Greenville, SC-based firm noted that investing activity this year has focused on existing portfolio companies, with investments into 20 existing companies. Four new companies, which received approximately $1 million of investment, also joined the VentureSouth portfolio.
Existing portfolio companies receiving investment included 6AM City in Greenville (which announced a major Series A round of funding led by Tegna in February), Trio Labs and Redbud Labs in Raleigh, and KIYATEC in Greenville.
“While signs are pointing to its improvement, 2024 has been a challenging year for companies raising capital in our region,” said VentureSouth Managing Director Paul Clark. “Thus, we are proud to have devoted support and funding to our portfolio companies to help them continue to thrive. We look forward to continuing this support for the rest of 2024.”
New companies joining the portfolio were: Phinite, which turns animal farms into renewable fertilizer mines, in eastern North Carolina; MPath Health in Winston-Salem, NC, which uses automation to improve the performance of healthcare systems; UrbanSDK in Jacksonville, FL, a traffic management software company helping state and local governments better understand their traffic flows; and Seafarer Exploration, an underwater archaeology technology company in Tampa, FL.
VentureSouth also completed several new strategic activities this year. It launched new groups in Savannah, GA, and along the “Space Coast” in Melbourne, FL; conducted educational workshops across the Southeast; and helped curate and launch the Upstate Upstarts list of early stage technology companies in the Upstate region of South Carolina. The group also enjoyed record attendance of more than 250 investors at its annual VentureSouth Summit, held earlier this year in Greenville.
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