Florida Funders partner Marc Blumenthal knew 2019 was a big year but, upon reflecting, came to realize just how impactful it was for not only the venture capital fund, but the entire state.
The fund was named the top VC fund for the Sunshine State, according to CB Insights. The data is from January 2015 through Jan. 6, 2020. The previous year's report named Orlando-based Deep Work Capital as the top fund.
Blumenthal said Florida Funders had a banner year in 2019. The group hired three to four new employees, launched the SEED Florida Early Stage Investment Fund with the University of South Florida and partnered with The Institute for Commercialization of Florida Technology to manage investment-related affairs of the organization.
"2019 was a growth year — the total capital deployed was larger, our average deal size went up, our pipeline grew," he said. "... Our accredited investment network grew. 2019, thinking about it, was a prolific year."
The organization invested in a wide range of startups across the state, including
- Trash Butler, investing $4.1 million in March
- UC-Care, where Florida Funders did a joint $1 million investment in March
- Homee, where Florida Funders and a slew of other investors invested $15 million in August
- 2ULaundry, investing $1.27 million in August
- Proof Network, now called Bridge, receiving $917,000 from the fund in November
Blumenthal said while the organization plans to invest in varied entities, he has noticed an uptick in startups with a focus on enterprise software, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence machine learning.
He added while the fund did not set out to become the top fund in the state, he believes the momentum will only increase in 2020.
"We're at the early stage but we already have more assets under management, more staff, more deal flow and that should continue," he said. "There is no reason [Florida Funders] shouldn’t continue to make investments across Florida. We're raising our impact fund, so we'll have an even larger fund to deploy in Series A round companies. It should continue; it will continue."
