A pool of $90 million is being deployed to North Carolina startups, and the real work begins now.
Ten minority and women-led venture capital firms have been awarded a combined $32 million. The announcement out of the NCInvest Initiative, managed by the NC Rural Center, brought Vice President Kamala Harris and other dignitaries to Durham on March 1.
The real work is just beginning for the fund managers selected for the effort. On top of the $32 million, they’ve signed commitments to invest a total of $90 million in North Carolina startups.
A big focus will be on minority entrepreneurs.
It’s a monumental effort, one that will take months to carve out.
Keith Daniel, co-founder and managing director of one of those funds, Durham’s Resilient Ventures, said work is underway and the first investment is in sight.
Resilient is targeting a $15 million second fund, and is making “good progress,” he said. The target is underrepresented entrepreneurs, particularly African American founders. Daniel, citing securities laws, said he couldn’t talk about the first investment the firm is currently evaluating.
“But I can say that this has been an important milestone for us in our second fund,” he said. “To have this support from the U.S. Treasury and to focus on North Carolina businesses.”
Daniel doesn’t anticipate sourcing founders to be a problem.
“This area is becoming increasingly an attractive place for founders,” he said. “We already have quite a number of (referral) deals we’ll be evaluating here in a couple of weeks for our fund two.”
He hopes there will be co-investment opportunities with other funds selected in the cohort.
Securities disclosures are starting to show other closures, including a fund by IDEA Fund Partners, a Chapel Hill investor that was also among the 10 firms awarded funding. Lister Delgado, managing partner, said the capital will allow more investments in North Carolina innovators.
“We have not yet made any investments,” he said. “We are contemplating a couple.”
The firm’s fund, IDEA Fund IV – NC, closed on exactly $5 million, according to a securities filing.
Another North Carolina investor to make the cut is Karen LeVert, whose LeVert Ventures filed papers with the SEC recently for a raise capped at $50 million. LeVert confirmed the fund will include contributions from the NCInves announcement.
LeVert said she couldn’t yet comment on the specifics of LeVert Ventures’ fund, as it has yet to close. But she said it was an honor to be included, and that the capital companies like hers will be doling out will fill a vital gap.
“There’s really a dearth of early-stage capital for startups,” she said. “ ... and the capital that is being deployed isn’t be deployed to diverse founders. And North Carolina has an opportunity, I feel, to lead the nation by example with a program like this.”
Four of the 10 venture funds selected by NCInvest were from North Carolina. The other North Carolina venture capital firm involved in the initiative is RevTech Labs out of Charlotte.
