The amount of people relocating from larger metros to Tampa Bay in the last year has also brought new financial opportunities.
Tampa-based innovation hub Embarc Collective released its annual Southeast Capital Landscape Report, done in conjunction with Build In SE, a network of the region’s leading startup organizations. The 2021 version of the report brought a key finding: There’s been a 30% uptick in investment firm creation across the area, and the Tampa Bay region has seen a direct impact.
According to the report, 21 firms now exist in the region, up from 16 in 2020 and 15 firms in 2019, when the data began getting collected.
There were several high-profile firms launched in the last 18 months in Tampa Bay, many after local founders saw successful exits with their companies:
- ConnectWise’s Arnie Bellini launched a fund in September 2020, followed by myMatrixx’s Steve MacDonald in October and Vology’s Barry Shevlin in December
- Four local serial entrepreneurs launched a $20 million investment fund in May 2021, planning to deploy the money across at least 20 startups in the next five years
- Stony Lonesome Group, a Connecticut-based early stage boutique firm, relocated its HQ in July 2021
Florida as a whole leads with the highest density of firms across the entire Southeast region, totaling 79 firms across 11 cities. Georgia trailed behind with 57 firms, and Tennessee rounded out the top three with 41 firms.
The report also pointed to big-name tech executives moving South, many of whom have stated they plan to get into the investing scene. John Sung Kim, whose company Five9 was acquired by Zoom for more than $14 billion, now wants to take a company public in Tampa Bay. Steve Parkis, a former Zynga executive, has invested in several Florida startups, including Tampa-based Ideal Agent and DocClocker. Brendan Rogers, co-founder of Wag!, has a fund focusing on India-based startups, but he’s interested in looking stateside as well.
There’s also more diversity in the makeup of the investment scene, according to the report. Several firms have launched in the last year, most notably in Atlanta, to tackle the lack of funding many minority entrepreneurs face. There is also an albeit slower uptick in women both receiving and leading investment rounds. Nine women-led venture firms were launched in the SE region in the last year.
“Through the Southeast Capital Landscape report, we’re not only documenting this incredibly encouraging rise in startup funding availability in the Southeast, but I believe this project contributes to it as well,” Allie Felix, VP Platform of Embarc Collective, said in a statement. “Over the years, we’ve heard many anecdotes from founders crafting their investor prospecting list and investors finding deal flow from this resource, and I hope it continues to be a powerful tool for those groups.”
See the full report here.
