Florida Funders, the angel investor/VC firm hybrid, has added two new investments to its growing second fund — and with that comes a slight shift in its investment strategy.
Florida Funders, which is headquartered in Tampa and has a focus on Florida-based, tech-focused, early stage startups, has been inching beyond the Sunshine State for some time. In its first fund, which totaled $18 million, the organization said any investments in non-Floridian companies were only done on the condition those companies would either relocate or expand to Florida. That included Minnesota-based Vugo, which said it would relocate to Florida. There was also the investment in Canadian company Vizetto Inc., which said it plans to open an office in Florida.
With the second fund, it has become more of a loose 60/40 breakdown of Floridian startups versus out-of-state businesses.
"We want to invest in Florida but we also want the best deals possible," Saxon Baum, vice president of investor relations at Florida Funders, said in an interview with the Business Journal. "The other thing is, we have the mindset that if investors [in its investor network] are investing in us and making money, and then re-investing, it's another way to get capital into the state of Florida and tech companies."
The latest investments for Florida Funders are Arkansas-based Ox Fulfillment Solutions and New York-based SimpleBet. Ox Fulfillment Solutions was previously known as Oculogx, and it helps companies automate omnichannel, or multichannel, retail operations. The company raised $3.5 million led by MaC Venture Capital and Cortado Ventures, with participation from Florida Funders for an undisclosed amount.
Shortly after that, it was announced that Florida Funders also invested in SimpleBet, a global betting sports technology company. Florida Funders invested $2.1 million into SimpleBet, with $500,000 coming from its second fund and the remainder coming from its investor network.
Plans are undisclosed as to whether either company will take a stronger presence in Florida, but officials noted SimpleBet's co-founder Joey Levy lives in Miami.
These are the third and fourth investments for Fund 2, following an investment in Miami-based HealthSnap and Tampa-based SiteWit.
"We're Florida first, but we’re opportunistic when it comes to deals," Baum said. "A lot of companies that we talk to say, 'We want to be in Tampa, I want to be in Miami,' and they're coming to us saying 'How do we break into the ecosystems?' Well, you can take a check from us and then we can help."
