Atlanta early-stage investment firm Overline LLC has closed a $13 million fund six months after its first fund.
Overline, founded in 2019 by managing partners Michael Cohn and Sean O’Brien, invests in Southeast founders. The firm is emblematic of a wave of new investment activity in Atlanta. A record number of venture capital firms raised funds in the first half of 2021, though Atlanta still lags other markets in terms of capital sources.
Overline closed the $27 million Overline Seed Fund I in March to help alleviate some early-stage funding problems in the region. Cohn and O’Brien are well-known local operators, showing how generational success fuels the technology ecosystem’s growth.
The second fund — the Overline Opportunity Fund II — will target $1 million investments for “breakout companies,” according to the Oct. 19 announcement. Those companies may be from Overline’s portfolio or others across the region. The first fund targeted pre-seed and seed startups with check sizes starting at $250,000.
“While our primary focus continues to be leading first-round financings, we now have the flexibility to invest in the later rounds of companies that are well on their way to becoming unicorns,” O’Brien said in the announcement.
This announcement demonstrates success for Overline’s first fund and indicates that the firm is establishing itself as a long-term fixture in the Atlanta tech ecosystem.
Overline’s current portfolio includes Relay Payments, a logistics technology startup that has raised almost $100 million, PadSplit, an affordable housing startup backed by Cox Enterprises, Grubbly Farms, a sustainable chicken feed startup.
Overline has investments from other big names in the Atlanta tech scene, including Mailchimp, Cox Enterprises and Atlanta Tech Village founder David Cummings. The partners previously told Atlanta Inno more than 90% of investors are local.
The firm also added two new team members — Sara Saxner-Coughlin as head of platform and Michael Davis as a venture partner.
