In 2017, a Forbes magazine piece named Atlanta one of “5 U.S. Cities Poised To Become Tomorrow's Tech Meccas.” Atlanta’s economy has historically been anchored by Fortune 500 giants, but as entrepreneurs from across the Southeast have converged on the city, Atlanta has seen a proliferation of young, venture-backed startup companies.
Critical to the growth of the innovation economy is funding and access to capital. Whether a single entrepreneur seeking seed funding or a rapidly growing company looking to raise a Series C round, young companies often rely on investors to grow and scale their ventures. In 2017, Georgia companies raised $1.7 billion in venture capital, the most for the region, the Atlanta Business Chronicle notes, since the year 2000 in the peak of the dotcom boom.
As venture activity accelerates, it’s important to know some of the key regional players in the investment space. Below is a list of Atlanta venture capital firms, angel investors, and some additional investment resources, with information on who runs them, what some of their key investments have been and industry areas on which they focus.
Venture Capital
Atlanta Ventures - Atlanta Ventures is run by Atlanta entrepreneur David Cummings, who founded Atlanta Tech Village. Atlanta Ventures focuses on SaaS investments, and leverages its relationship with startups working in Atlanta Tech Village to source investments. Portfolio companies of Atlanta Ventures include Sequr, SingleOps, Terminus Software and Calendly.
BIP Capital - BIP Capital is a venture investor making both early stage and growth stage investments that has raised four funds and invested almost $200 million over the past ten years. The firm has been ranked by CB Insights as Georgia’s most active VC firm the last two years. In 2017, BIP Capital made investments in 2080 Media, Gro Solutions, Car360 and MLevel.
BLH Venture Partners - BLH Venture Partners is an early stage venture fund that has focused on SaaS, e-commerce and consumer internet investments. BLH has led investments in Atlanta startups like UserIQ, StrataCloud and Salesfusion.
C&B Capital - C&B Capital is the venture arm of Atlanta investment banking firm Croft & Bender. Focusing primarily on the Southeast, most of C&B Capital’s past and current portfolio companies are based in Georgia and surrounding states. Some of their investments include AppForge, Gro Solutions, REACH Health and ControlScan.
Centerview Capital Technology - Centerview Capital Technology is the venture arm of the investment bank Centerview Partners. The firm opened an Atlanta office in 2016 and tapped former AT&T CEO (and Knoll Ventures founder) David Dorman to head up its operations. The firm has made six investments from its first $200 million fund and plans to raise a second fund soon. Atlanta-area investments by Centerview Capital include Luma and SecureWorks, and Dorman told Reuters in a 2016 interview he hopes to focus on emerging talent from the region’s universities.
CTW Venture Partners - Focused on seed and early stage companies, CTW Venture Partners makes $1-3 million investments in Atlanta startups. Investments include SoftWear, Sarvint Technolgies, CodeGuard and Virima Technologies. CTW is led by Raj Rajan, an Atlanta-based entrepreneur and investor.
Engage Ventures - Engage Ventures was founded in 2017 as part of a commitment from 10 major corporations to invest in Atlanta’s entrepreneurs. Backed financially by AT&T, Chick-fil-A, Cox Enterprises, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, Georgia Power, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Invesco, The Home Depot, and UPS, the $15 million fund is the investment vehicle for Engage’s accelerator program.
Ellis Capital - Ellis capital is an early stage venture firm run by entrepreneur and investor Bert Ellis. Atlanta-based investments include Synthio, Sequr and Salesfusion.
Forte Ventures - Forte Ventures is a venture firm that typically invests $100,000 to $3 million alongside corporate or other strategic partners. While based in Atlanta, the firms investments have varied geographically. Regional investments include Springbot, OpsDataStore and Inform Inc.
Fulcrum Equity Partners - Fulcrum Equity Partners is a growth equity firm that typically makes $5-10 million investments in rapidly growing companies. In 2017, Fulcrum closed a $204 million second fund and made over a dozen new or follow on investments. Portfolio companies include Atlanta’s Synthio, Preparis and QASymphony.
Georgia Oak Partners - Georgia Oak Partners focuses on growth equity investments in Atlanta-based companies. The firm prides itself on a local focus, heralding awareness of “regional business environment, prospective customers, executive talent, vendors and advisors, bankers/lenders and other advocates,” as well as billing itself a hands-on investment partner. GOP has invested in fast casual restaurant concepts Farm Burger and Your Pie, as well as Sailfish Boats.
Gray Ghost Ventures - GGV is an impact investing firm focusing on areas like microfinance, social venture investment and affordable private schools. The firm has raised three funds, the latest being a $10 million fund to focus on emerging markets. While based in Atlanta, a bulk of GGV’s investments have been international.
GRA Venture Fund - The GRA Venture Fund is a public-private investment fund focused on funding research-driven, Georgia-based startup companies. The fund was originally launched by the Georgia Research Alliance in 2009, spurred by $7.5 million of investment from the State of Georgia. In 2015, GRA raised a second, $25 million fund and has led investments in local companies such as Urjanet, Soneter, Axion BioSystems and FraudScope.
Imlay Investments - Imlay Investments Inc. is the personal investment company founded by Atlanta investing legend and philanthropist John P. Imlay, Jr. The fund founded alongside the Imlay Foundation in 1990, and is currently managed by Sig Mosley, the venerable Southeastern investor. Imlay Investments has invested recently in Urjanet, Damballa and 2080 Media.
Kinetic Ventures - Kinetic Ventures, which is split between Atlanta and Chevy Chase, MD, has made dozens of venture investments since its founding in 1985. The firm typically invests in companies who are raising their first $1-5 million in capital, and has claimed several successful exits. Some Atlanta-based investments of Kinetic include, Predictix, Cardlytics and HotSchedules.
Knoll Ventures - Knoll Ventures was founded by former AT&T CEO David Dorman, and has led investments in Seqr and Firethorn (which had a $210 million exit to Qualcomm in 2007), and counts companies like Luma and Terminus Software among its other investments.
Leaders Fund - Leaders Fund focuses its investments on B2B SaaS companies. LF has offices in Atlanta and Toronto, and looks for companies that can benefit from their presence and connections in those markets. Some of Leaders Fund’s recent investments include Atlanta’s CallRail, Flashpoint (New York, NY) and Top Hat (Toronto, Canada).
Mosley Ventures - An early stage venture investment firm, Mosley Ventures focuses primarily on Georgia and other Southeast startups in security software, mobility and wireless, big data and healthcare IT. The firm is run by Sig Mosley, who has been described as “The Godfather of Southeast Angel Investing” and who also manages Imlay Investments Inc.
Noro-Moseley Partners - Noro-Moseley Partners (NMP) is an established venture capital firm that has been active since 1983. NMP focuses on IT and Healthcare IT investments and typically invests $5-10 million in Series A or B rounds. NMP claims over three dozen exits and while based in Atlanta, has made few recent investments in Georgia-based companies. One exception was leading a $13.5 million Series A round in Atlanta-based Salesfusion in 2015.
Stanley Ventures - Stanley Ventures is the venture capital arm of Stanley Black & Decker. The firm's goal is to deliver cutting-edge innovations to SB&D through strategic investments and by bringing the corporation's resources to the startup ecosystem. The two-year-old firm currently has 11 companies in its portfolio, including DreamHammer and Prieto Battery.
Switchyards Fund - The Switchyard Fund is associated with Switchyards, the downtown coworking space and accelerator focused on B2C startups. For now, the fund will only be investing in companies that graduate from Switchyard Studios, the 90 day accelerator that Switchyards operates for one consumer-focused startup per month.
Tech Square Ventures - Based in the complex that shares its name, Tech Square Ventures is an early stage firm focused on investing in cloud and IoT technology, as well as university spinout startups. The firm has led investments in companies such as PreTel, UserIQ and Cypress.io. Tech Square’s leadership team is also helping manage the new Engage Venture Fund.
TechOperators - TechOperators is a software-focused early stage investment firm that typically makes $2-4 million investments in companies located in the Southeast. TechOperators has raised two funds, the last one being a $100 million fund that closed in 2013, and focuses more specifically on cybersecurity and B2B software startups. Recent investments have included Predikto, Orderly, Evident ID and SalesLoft.
TTV Capital - TTV Capital is an established venture fund focusing exclusively on fintech investments. Active since 2000, TTV has raised four funds (the latest a $93 million fund announced in 2017), made dozens of investments and had over 20 exits. Portfolio companies include Springbot, Gro Solutions, Connecture and DoubleNet Pay.
UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund - As the venture arm of the Atlanta-based Fortune 500 company UPS, UPS SEF looks to invest in companies with promising innovations in shipping and logistics. The fund has been active in recent years, with investments in local companies like Kabbage, Ally Commerce and Fast Radius.
Valor Ventures - Valor Ventures is Georgia’s first female-led venture capital firm and focuses in early stage investments in companies outside of Silicon Valley and other tier one innovation hubs. Valor also manages Startup Runway, the largest pitch event for diverse and minority founders in the region, and publishes Female Entrepreneurs magazine.
Vocap Investment Partners - Vocap is a growth stage venture capital firm headquartered in Atlanta with a second office in Vero Beach, Florida. The firm focuses on Series A and B rounds and portfolio companies include several local startups, such as Synthio, BlueRidge and Bridgevine. Mike Becker, Chairman of Venture Atlanta, is Vocap's Atlanta-based managing director. The firm also primarily focuses on opportunities on the East Coast and specializes in B2B software, technology-enabled businesses and healthcare IT.
Angel Investors
Atlanta Technology Angels - Atlanta Technology Angels is one of the more venerable angel groups in the Southeast. Members typically make seed and early-stage investments between $150,000 and $2 million. Investments include Wisegate, Predikto, CodeGuard and TerraGo.
No Limits Ventures - Run by Raj Choudhury, an Atlanta entrepreneur and investor, No Limit Ventures has made early stage investments in companies like Cooleaf, HubLogix and Converge.
Michael Cohn - Michael Cohn is a managing director at Techstars ATL and also an early stage investor. Some of his investments include MessageGears and RoadSync.
Kathryn Finney - Kathryn Finney is the founder and managing director of digitalundivided (DID), an Atlanta social enterprise venture “that fosters economic growth through the empowerment of Black and Latina women entrepreneurs using innovation as a tool.” She is a former general partner in the Harriet Fund, which focused on supporting Black and Latinx women founders. Finney started the fund in 2016 and departed earlier this year. In her post announcing she was leaving the Harriet Fund, Finney says she plans to continue investing in Black and Latinx women founders as an angel investor.
Paul Judge - Paul Judge is the founder of Luma, the Atlanta home wifi tech startup that recently sold to Newell for more than $10 million, as well as the co-founder of TechSquare Labs. As an angel investor, Judge runs Judge Ventures and has made investments in companies like Monsieur and Ionic Security.
Payman Pouladdej - Payman Pouladdej has made some early stage investments that have paid off big. Pouladdej was an early investor in second life-style platform MyMiniLife, which was sold to Zynga and used to power the popular game Farmville, an investor in Aviary, the photo editing software that was acquired by Adobe in 2014, and one of the first investors in Etsy. According to Crunchbase, he has made a few recent investments, though it doesn’t seem much of his investment has been local.
Tyler Scriven - Tyler Scriven is a managing director at Techstars ATL and formerly was on the leadership team of Palantir. As an angel investor he’s supported companies like Sequr, Storj Labs and RoadSync.
Additional Resources
Gathering of Angels - Gathering of Angels is a monthly opportunity for Atlanta startups to pitch to local angel investors. The meetings are organized by Atlanta businessman Tarby Bryant, and typically bring together 20-30 accredited angel investors.
Ritz Group - The Ritz Group is an Atlanta nonprofit dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs with early stage investors. The group holds monthly networking meetings and multiple pitch-style events for local startups to present their companies to investors.
Southeast Investor Group - Founded in 1995, the Southeast Investor Group (SEIG) is a collaborative effort among regional venture capitalists to source and partner on investments. The group is composed of partners from 30 venture capital funds in the Southeast, five corporate venture funds, and 25 individual investors who are all able to commit between $250,000 to $15 million in investment. According to SEIG’s website, “the group does not operate a pool of capital or syndicate; rather SEIG Investors make independent investment decisions, but often collaborate and co-invest with each other.”
Venture Atlanta - Venture Atlanta is an annual 2-day venture conference designed to introduce both local and national investors to Atlanta-area companies. The conference is a joint effort produced by the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Technology Association of Georgia and the Atlanta CEO Council. Now in its eleventh year, Venture Atlanta brings together more than 900 entrepreneurs, investors, leaders and students.
(Featured Pic Via Getty Images)
