Jonathan Gibbons spent the last 15 years in Tampa, topped off with a successful company exit. But last year, in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic, he figured he would have to leave.
"I've always loved Tampa, and it was sad because we thought we had to go to Austin or San Francisco," Gibbons said. "Then it was just, all of a sudden, Miami was exploding, and even in Tampa, there's an appetite I've never seen before for tech investment."
And when the St. Petersburg resident launched his fintech company vigtec.io in April, local investor interest surged.
"Raising funding is not easy, but you never would have had these conversations years ago," he said. "And now you not only have the conversations, you have the interest, the expertise, and also have the talent. So, we’re not leaving."
For the founder of Compass HRM, which was acquired for an undisclosed amount in 2017, it was an unexpected scene.
"There's an expertise for technology versus real estate, or health care, or hospitality, which have been the dominant industries in the state," he said. "And they aren’t anymore. All throughout Florida, it's just different expertise by industry that I never saw before. It's kind of mind-blowing."
The company closed an oversubscribed $1.5 million seed round in June, bringing its total funding to $3 million. The seed round was done in three stages and did not have a lead investor. However, local entities Florida Funders and the Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology participated for undisclosed amounts.
"The democratization of trading created a flood of unstructured and unbridled demand while current trading platforms focus mostly on transactions, often with little to no analysis for the user,“ Rafael Lohner, executive director at the institute, said in a statement. “vigtec.io is looking to fill that void by providing a next-generation investing platform to its users with an enhanced interactive, exploratory and discovery-focused user experience.”
The funding will go toward continuing to flesh out the company's growth and fit to market. The company aims to appeal to both novice investors and longtime traders. It offers a research and investor education platform, as well as more advanced investors custom alerts, algorithms, content channels and market indicators.
He expects to add an Android device in the coming weeks, along with product enhancements, a social component and daily fantasy stock games, allowing users to "win it all without betting it all."
The company has users in more than 30 countries, with almost 95% of those being in the millennial and Generation Z demographic. Gibbons was cautious about discussing a potential future Series A, stating he planned to close it by the end of the year, but the company is focused on its offerings first.
The company has roughly 15 employees, and he expects the development and marketing teams to double by the end of the year.
"Tampa always been a great place to live, but now that you have venture expertise and the appetite, it's just huge," he said. "Development with real estate, it's always been here. But this is just totally different expertise, and the investment attracts the talent to move here."
