The Winston-Salem Partners Roundtable (WSPR) Fund, a new group of accredited investors, recently began accepting applications for funding.
The WSPR Fund is an independent initiative of Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. that began about four months ago.
The goal of the WSPR Fund is to help early-stage companies seeking seed-level investments scale by providing meaningful access to capital and to generate competitive returns for the investors. Investments are expected to range from about $100,000 to $300,000 with the potential to be larger.
Currently, there are 65 active members in the group, many of whom are new to investing and startups. They come from a wide range of industries.
As a pledge fund, the individual members of the WSPR Fund will be free to pick and choose which companies they’d like to invest in. They will not be required to invest but are recommended to invest an undisclosed minimum set by the fund managers over the first three years of the fund.
The WSPR Fund will invest as a group using a special purpose vehicle (SPV), meaning several members will contribute to the investment of a single company.
In addition to their investments, members will also provide mentorship and support to companies.
Companies in Winston-Salem or dedicated to relocating to the city are eligible to receive WSPR funding. The fund is “industry agnostic.” However, preference will be given to startups in industries in which Winston-Salem has expertise, such as healthcare, IT, apparel, education, and automotive technology.
“The WSPR Fund is helping to further augment Winston-Salem’s strong startup community. Some of the most innovation new ideas in many industries are being developed right here, and our entrepreneurial network fosters the growth of those ideas into thriving companies,” said Steve Lineberger, a WSPR Fund manager and the former president of Winston Starts.
After applying, companies will complete two screen pitches. If the fund managers feel like the company is a good fit, then they will pitch in front of the entire membership.
So far, the applications the WSPR Fund has received have been a mixed bag, with some already based in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, some based in North Carolina and some based elsewhere in the United States.
“For those companies, if you’re not already based in Winston-Salem, why wouldn’t you want to relocate to an area that can really help you grow, that’s already robust,” Clay Johnson, director of entrepreneurial initiatives at Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. said.
For startups that are not based in Winston-Salem, the Fund intends to pay the investment using a tranche system in which the company receives an initial part of the fund and then receives the rest after relocating.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.
