Defiance Ventures' co-founder John Espey is confident in the recent the acquisition of two North Carolina-based companies.
The first, announced on March 19, was The Refinery Haus, a Charlotte-based digital marketing agency launched in 2018 by founder and Chief Executive Officer Bryan Bellamy.
Bellamy said he's worked for years to make The Refinery Haus a premier agency in the Southeast but struggled to break into the market. After talking with Espey, he realized the company could do more with Defiance's backing.
"When John and I were talking about it, for me, it made a ton of sense because it allowed me to accelerate that goal and focus on what I believe I’m best at," said Bellamy, who is now managing director at Defiance Ventures. "It took away a lot of the operational responsibilities so I can just deliver work."
Defiance Ventures is a venture studio that launches, invests in, and acquires companies, while also providing consulting and design services. Its clients have included Chick-fil-A and Charlotte startup Stratifyd.
Espey said Bellamy brings a creative vision Defiance Ventures was missing before.
"Bryan really wanted to focus more on the creative and branding side," Espey said. "The biggest constraint was that he didn’t have any partners to do some of the heavy lifting to build a scaleable business.
"And we didn't have his creativity on our team. That's how this benefits across the entire portfolio."
The second announcement came on Tuesday, as Defiance announced it would acquire Tavve, Raleigh-based cybersecurity and ITOA company, and move its operations to Charlotte.
Tavve offers large institutions services to secure and enhance their network infrastructure.
Espey said the number of jobs the acquisition will create upon its move to the Queen City is still unknown.
"A lot of the jobs will be driven by how fast we grow," he said. "I could see a scenario where this is a 50 to 60 person company in a few years."
Though he can't yet definitively outline the economic impact Refinery Haus and Tavve will have on Charlotte, Espey said he's confident both companies will experience success under Defiance.
He declined to disclose the acquisition price for either company but said Defiance will invest additional funds to help with continued growth. The amount, he said, will depend on each company's performance.
"Beyond what we pay to acquire these firms, there is capital we put in," he said. "If a business is growing fast, we'll put more into it, but we don't want to put too much in too quickly. Being hungry helps most early-stage companies."
As for Defiance Venture's next moves? Espey said there are more acquisitions on the way.
"We’ve got two more that we’re pretty far down the path with," he said. "My guess is, we’ll be ready to announce those in two to six weeks. This is going to be a very active year for us."
