Charlotte venture capital firm Silver Falcon Capital has made its second investment in the Richmond, Virginia, region.
Silver Falcon, co-founded in 2019 by Austin Tate and former NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France, closed last month on an investment into Richmond startup The Shed. Tate's background includes leadership roles for NASCAR in Charlotte as well as a stint with General Electric.
Tate declined to disclose the amount of the investment in The Shed.
He said the firm provides investments between $5 million and $50 million. It focuses on brands predominantly in the Southeast within the food and beverage, health and wellness, and sports and entertainment industries.
"At this stage, we're the largest investor in The Shed, and it's much more significant in size than our previous rounds," he said. "We love persistent, dogged entrepreneurs who know what an uphill battle it is. The Shed is hitting a category that's been stale for a long time."
The Shed was founded by Karen Rodgers O’Neil and Daniel Perrone. It has locations in Richmond and Denver, Colorado, that rent thousands of brand-name items, ranging from picnic tables to kayaks to carpet cleaners to stump grinders.
Similar to how a person might reserve a room on Airbnb, renters can reserve an item for a certain amount of time, then choose to pick it up or have it delivered.
"This investment is truly enabling us to get to that next stage and become the disruptor we know we can be," O’Neil said. "With this, we will be able to add additional resources. We're very scrappy and have done a whole lot with a small team, but we've got some incredible hires that will allow us to do more."
This marks Silver Falcon's second investment in a Richmond startup this year. In January, the firm announced its investment in Navy Hill, a line of premium, "better-for-you" cocktail mixers with electrolytes. The mixers are a blend of club soda and tonic the company calls "sonic."
Tate said, as it did with Navy Hill, the firm is taking an active role in fueling The Shed's growth through continued investments in marketing, innovation and assistance in building out the company's team.
"What I would like to see happen, long-term, is the continued disruption of this industry," he said. "The Shed is delivering experiences to customers who may never walk into REI or Dicks Sporting Goods and buy a kayak or walk out of Home Depot with a $300 drill, but they have these one-off experiences or projects they want to accomplish.
"The Shed enables them to experience that elevated lifestyle," Tate added.
The Shed raised an initial funding round of $1.25 million and, in January, secured additional funding from Hampton Roads network 757 Angels and Charlottesville Angel Network.
