A family of funds managed by the Center for Innovative Technology has invested about $1.8 million into Richmond-area startups in recent years.
Through partnerships with Richmond-area groups like Lighthouse Labs, Trolley Ventures, 1717 Innovation Center, Virginia Commonwealth University and Startup Virginia, CIT GAP Funds is “actively cultivating a growing pipeline,” said Managing Director Tom Weithman.
Thirteen Richmond area startups make up CIT's active portfolio. Recent investments include:
- AnswersNow, a startup that provides remote applied behavior analysis therapy to children with autism spectrum disorder (2021 investment)
- RoundlyX, which enables users to make investments in Bitcoin and other digital assets by rounding up their everyday purchases (2020 investment)
- Kamana, whose software connects healthcare professionals, especially traveling nurses, with employers to provide a more streamlined hiring process (2019 investment)
- Fringe, a company that offers a lifestyle benefits marketplace for employers and employees (2019 investment)
- Fenris Digital, providing software and analytics for financial and insurance products (2019 investment)
- Buddy, on-demand accident insurance for outdoor adventurers (2019 investment)
Another CIT portfolio company, Babylon Micro-Farms, a builder of hydroponic systems for indoor farms, announced last week that it was relocating its headquarters from Charlottesville to Richmond.
In January, CIT GAP Funds released its 2020 Impact Report, showing $32.4 million in capital deployed across 240 portfolio companies since its founding in 2005. CIT, headquartered at Gather in Richmond, is a nonprofit whose mission is to support innovation and entrepreneurship in Virginia.
Named Virginia’s Most Active Investor for the past six years by CB Insights, CIT GAP Funds supports equity investments in Virginia’s early-stage technology, life science and cleantech companies. As a provider of “catalytic capital,” CIT GAP Funds has mobilized more than 1,000 investors to leverage $1.1 billion in private capital.
In a challenging year, Weithman said he’s proud of the work his team and its ecosystem partners have done to support early-stage companies, in Richmond and beyond.
“We’ve done a great job of sticking to our knitting and getting capital out there and helping out Virginia’s entrepreneurs,” he said.
And Weithman is feeling “bullish” about the year ahead.
“All in all, I think we’re very well positioned,” he said. “I think Virginia’s profile as a leader in entrepreneurship in the Mid-Atlantic, and beyond, is growing. I think we’re in a very good place.”
Founders interested in applying for CIT GAP Funds can do so through Gust.com, mail their executive summary or pitch deck to gap@cit.org or contact the CIT GAP Fund team via referral.