VentureSouth, a regional venture capital and private equity firm, recently closed on its fourth $5 million sidecar fund.
The fund, which was raised over the course of a year, is designed to co-invest alongside VentureSouth's more than 400 members. Managing Director Charlie Banks said when at least 10 members make individual investments into a company, the sidecar fund also makes an investment. VentureSouth is based in Greenville, South Carolina, and was founded in 2014.
"The fund is incredibly important to the asset class," he said. "This is our fourth fund, all designed to be about $5 million each, and it's a rolling close, so once we open the round, we begin investing out of the fund immediately."
Banks said the fund has invested in 13 portfolio companies since it opened last summer, including 6AM City in Greenville, South Carolina; Punchlist in Charleston, South Carolina; Live Furnish in Winston-Salem; Coworks in Durham; and Pass It Down in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He said the fund looks to add five to seven more portfolio companies in the coming months.
"We do have a couple of upcoming investments in the (Charlotte) region that are currently active raises," he said. "We’ve got a couple we’re looking to close soon and more throughout the rest of the year."
VentureSouth predominately focuses its investments on early-stage startups in the Southeast for a variety of reasons, Banks said.
"We feel like the Southeast-based deal flow is priced accordingly for the risk investors take at this stage," he said. "We have a very strict focus on our Southeast footprint because of that reason, but also, there's a tremendous amount of talent here."
