Looking for startup funders in the Southeast? Here’s a way to find them all in one place

 
Florida’s entrepreneurs go far and wide for their startup capital, but new data shows that the odds of finding it in their own backyard are increasing. With an updated database available, they can also easily locate investors in the Sunshine State and throughout the Southeastern US.    
Tampa-based startup hub Embarc Collective released today the second Southeast Capital Landscape, a database of active regional startup investors, with the support of Build In SE and the #BuildinSE Alliance. Build In SE aims to increase the number of startup success stories in the Southeast and leverages its alliance made up of Atlanta Tech Village, Co.Lab, Raleigh Founded, Start.Co and Embarc Collective to achieve that mission.
The Southeast experienced nearly 20% growth in new angel network and venture firm creation from 2019, the 2020 database update shows. New entrants include Black Angels Miami (BAM), which launched this year with Knight Foundation funding and is led by Kevin Cadette, and Miami-based Animo Ventures, a $60 million seed fund launched late last year and led by Nico Berardi, as well as Atlanta-based Overline and Orlando-based Calano Ventures.
Another finding: Of the available startup capital in the Southeast, over 66% is directed to early-stage investments (pre-seed and seed). This capital is concentrated in Atlanta, Nashville, Miami, Tampa Bay and Louisville.
 On the flip side, though, there’s still work to do: Of the 240 funding firms identified in the database, only 35 are directed at growth-stage investments, an area where deals are increasing fastest in the Miami ecosystem. This means that startups seeking later-stage funding are often looking outside the Southeast region to find the right capital partners that can fund their entire lifecycle.
 “By working with Embarc Collective member startups on their fundraising goals, we realized that many believed they needed to travel to a major market to access capital“, said Allie Felix, Platform Director at Embarc Collective. “We knew that many capital resources existed across the Southeast but saw an opportunity to help startups better identify which firms were most relevant and how to access them.”
Because there was no comprehensive tool to identify and contact relevant investors based on city, state, industry and stage-specific to the Southeast, the Southeast Capital Landscape began in 2019 as a way to document all active angel networks and venture funds in the region.
 Southeast-based startups looking to raise locally can leverage the database to help their investor prospecting efforts. The database also serves as tool for investors to share deals and co-invest alongside others in the Southeast.
Go to this link to access the 2020 report and database.
“As founders increasingly choose to build their companies in the Southeast, capital will follow,“ said Monique Villa, co-founder of Build In SE and investor at Mucker Capital. “Our hope is to save founders significant time in locating available capital in the region, should they choose to pursue venture funding as part of their journey.”
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Nancy Dahlberg