New early-stage venture capital firm Venture 53 launched in Atlanta and Richmond, Va., to invest in logistics and supply chain innovation.
Industry interest: Logistics technology has enjoyed a spike in investments during the e-commerce explosion and supply chain delays of the past year. Venture capitalists invested $15.4 billion across 384 deals into supply chain technology in the first half of 2021, according to PitchBook Emerging Tech Research report. Those investments surpassed the record amount of capital that went into the industry in all of 2020. Atlanta is poised to benefit from this influx of capital. As a legacy logistics hub, its startup ecosystem has created innovation surrounding this industry.
About the firm: Venture 53 launched during the COVID-19 pandemic last year to make the logistics industry more efficient. The firm is in the process of raising its third fund, targeting $30 million, according to a spokesperson. Its first fund was $3 million, and its second was $10 million. The firm is dual headquartered where its co-founders Pat Martin and Dan White live.
At a glance: Venture 53 has made three investments so far — Emerge, a digital freight marketplace; Edray, a port logistics management platform; and MyCarrier, a transportation management solution, according to a spokesperson. None of its current investments are based in Atlanta. Check sizes range from $400,000 to $2 million. The firm focuses on five logistics verticals: payment and visibility, yield management, warehousing and fulfillment, shipping and logistics.
New money: Atlanta historically lacks early-stage venture capital firms, though Venture 53 shows how this dynamic is starting to shift. Eight Georgia venture capital firms raised funds totaling $439 million in the first half of 2021, according to a PitchBook report. That number of funds is a record for the city, which is also seeing record amounts of startup funding. When entrepreneurs have access to local money, capital tends to circulate more within the market and startups stay headquartered in the city, experts say.
