Here's who's backing Scot Wingo's new rolling fund for Triangle startups

Serial entrepreneur Scot Wingo is starting a new investment fund with plans to start funneling cash into the next generation of high-tech startups in 2022.

Called the Triangle Tweener Fund, it will use the “rolling fund” subscription model pioneered by Silicon Valley-based AngelList. And the initial limited partners list reads like a who’s-who of Triangle entrepreneurs – people such as ArchiveSocial founder Anil Chawla, Automated Insights founder Robbie Allen and Accipiter’s Chris Evans.

It’s been a long time coming for Wingo, who said he’ll continue his day job as CEO of Get Spiffy, his mobile car care startup, in Research Triangle Park. He had explored several models – finding the creating of special purpose vehicles “like herding cats.” In a rolling fund, however, investors commit.

“It’s like a baby VC where there’s more of a commitment, but shorter-term and smaller dollars,” he said. “But the general partner, the one doing the investing, you have capital there … you don’t have to herd the cats.”

The fund is open to accredited investors and has a minimum investment of $20,000 for the first year, with an open subscription model after year one.

James Avery, CEO of Durham-based Kevel, said he was the first to commit to the fund.

Avery, who has known Wingo for eight years, said he didn’t hesitate.

“We continue to see local companies do extremely well and have healthy exits, but the vast majority of the venture returns accrue to firms outside of our area,” Avery said. “I believe the Tweener Fund will help keep more of the returns from our companies local, putting that money back in the pocket of fellow CEOs and others in the community. This creates a virtuous cycle that then creates more capital to invest in new companies. We need more local investors that want to invest in local companies, so a fund targeted at that is huge for the area.”

Ryan Bethencourt, CEO of vegan dogfood maker Wild Earth, which recently moved its headquarters from California to the Triangle, was another investor.

“I think the Triangle is about to have explosive growth in technology startups and I wanted to specifically back a serial entrepreneur like Scot Wingo, who's had experience from startup to IPO and has deep roots in the Triangle ecosystem as I think the Tweener Fund will outperform most early early stage tech funds as the Triangle continues to accelerate,” he said. “In addition, for the Triangle to become one of the global leaders in the technology industry, we have to lead by example and successful entrepreneurs should back other fellow entrepreneurs. This was one of the lessons I learned from building and funding startups in Silicon Valley and I'm very excited to join local entrepreneurs and investors in backing the next generation of innovators here in the Triangle.”

Michael Doernberg, a co-founder of ReverbNation and Playmetrics, said his “strong belief” in the entrepreneurial community led him to invest.

“I feel that it is important for the operators, independently of the VCs and service providers, to show their support,” he said. “The financial commitment is important primarily for its signaling value. My hope is that everyone from the area that has successfully built and sold a company will join and that those coming to the area will see the fund as a means to get involved.”

Wingo started what he called the “Tweener List” in 2015 to call out Triangle startups. Initially, he had 50 startups on his list. Today, it’s 227. Wingo said the plan is to primarily pull from the list – companies he’s already formed relationships with that have at least a $1 million run rate or 10 people and under $80 million or so.

Wingo said early discussions have started with potential investments. The plan is to start doling out capital in January.

The full list of initial investors: