Tech-focused investor Delta-v Capital is on the hunt for innovation – a search that brought it to Durham where it recently led Teamworks’ $50 million raise. And that could be just the beginning, as Dan Williams, a Texas-based partner at the firm, says it has a “good amount of dry powder left” to funnel into startups.
“We actually really like geographies like North Carolina,” he said. “We tend to focus on cities outside of the Bay Area that we find have really strong entrepreneurs building really interesting companies.”
The Dallas-based firm, now investing with its fourth fund, has $1.5 billion in capital under management and is not afraid to put its money to work, he said. It typically invests between $3 million and $30 million in tech companies in areas such as SaaS and cybersecurity.
Williams, a Cisco veteran, started as a code writer. During his last two years at Cisco, he worked in corporate development, specifically mergers and acquisitions.
“I saw how investing in technology companies can drive innovation, but I wanted to do it outside of the umbrella of a corporation,” he said. So he got his MBA from The Wharton School and entered the venture capital world, leading Delta-v investments such as Socrata, CloudBees and Arctic Wolf.
Why Teamworks
Delta-v first invested in Teamworks in 2020, leading its Series C round. Williams said the firm first connected with Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides through Dhruv Patel of Signature Bank. Patel, active in the Triangle entrepreneurship scene since his time at the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, said Maurides was a guy the firm should know.
But it was a combination of Teamworks’ Software-as-a-Service model (a sweet spot for Delta-V) and Maurides’ history that sealed its interest.
Delta-v has found past success in vertical S-a-a-S businesses, such as with Socrata, a data and analytics firm targeting governments. Socrata resulted in a successful exit for Delta-v when it was acquired by Tyler Technologies – a deal that was in the back of partners’ minds when looking at Teamworks, Williams said.
“What we find with these vertical SaaS businesses, because they build software specifically-tailored for their end customers, that software tends to have a stronger product market fit and retention with customers in those verticals,” he said.
Maurides’ history as a Duke University football player also factored in, as Williams said entrepreneurs with first-hand experience in their verticals “tend to have the best outcomes.”
“They understand the needs of their customers,” he said.
Teamworks offers an athlete engagement platform specifically for sports teams – something that Maurides, with his personal history, had a personal connection to, Williams said. So Delta-v decided to “lean in and get involved"
“We’re excited to be doubling down and expanding that partnership,” Williams said.
It’s the second North Carolina firm in Delta-v’s portfolio after Passport, a parking-management software firm based in Charlotte.
Williams said the firm does take cold inquiries, and encourages entrepreneurs with startups that align with the portfolio to reach out – either through a mutual contact or through Delta-v’s website.
