SSR - March 15, 2024

International Women’s Day was last week. Pitchbook’s All In report on female founders shows little advancement in our fundraising efforts. According to the report, female-founded companies represent only 2% of total US VC activity - a figure that “has scarcely changed since 2008.”  There was an uptick in female VC participation though. At the GP level, the share of female check writers at the largest VC firms grew slightly to 17.4%.

Louisiana

It was an exciting week in New Orleans with NOEW under full swing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pitch competitions in a two-day span! There was the Big Idea Showcase with SCHOOLS taking home the top prize. At the Mayor’s Challenge, Culturalyst took home $25k, Bar Pals won $10k, and Navatarang also won $10K. Other pitch events on Wednesday included the Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge, The Water Challenge, and OHUB’s Demo Day. Yesterday at the inaugural 3rd Coast Venture Summit, I watched dozens of really quality pitches, including several from global climate tech companies in the Halliburton Labs accelerator. The event culminated with the IDEApitch Showcase, with potential equity investments into each of the 4 presenting alumni companies: Falaya, Hlight, OS Benefits, and 3D Media. Congratulations to all!
 
But wait – there is so much more to report. We witnessed not one, but THREE equity raise announcements in New Orleans over the past 2 weeks. Nest Health, a value-based whole-family healthcare provider, announced that it raised over $4M in seed funding. I met Nest’s Co-Founder Dr. Rebekah Gee yesterday and she shared the startup has actually brought in a little more than this amount and that the round is still open. They are hoping to reach $6M soon. New Orleans startup Locally also announced a significant equity investment led by Corbel Capital Partners in Los Angeles and Valency Capital of Connecticut. Founded in 2014, Locally is the leading technology provider bridging online and offline retail. Locally will use this infusion of capital to fuel development and enhance sales and marketing initiatives. Third, Moxey, a digital trade network for local businesses, raised $1.25M. The funding round was led by SpringTime Ventures, a Colorado-based VC fund.

Alabama

Birmingham-based HData raised $10M in Series A funding led by Buoyant Ventures, with participation from Victorum Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Firebrand Ventures, among others. HData uses AI and automation to help the US energy industry to file, explore, analyze, and leverage regulatory data. In ESO news, Innovation Depot opened applications for Voltage, its five-week venture feasibility program. The idea stage program requires no previous tech or entrepreneurship experience. To apply, click here. New Orleans-based startup Glass Half Full is expanding to Birmingham. Glass Half Full uses recycled glass for coastal restoration efforts. It’s a win-win business model. Share the link to sign up for local glass recycling with your friends.

Arkansas

The U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative has awarded $2M to Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) to assist small businesses applying for the SSBCI Capital Program. Based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, ASBTDC’s mission is to help the smallest businesses in Arkansas access the capital they need to grow. ESO Conductor of Conway announced that its accepting applications for the 8th cohort of its 10X Growth Accelerator program. Apply before May 31st.

Florida

LactaLogics just raised $92M for human milk processing for babies. The company intends to use the funds to implement its human milk processing technology in a 71,000 SF facility located in Port St. Lucie. Betr is back this week with another $15M in equity funding, bringing total funding to $100M at a $375M valuation. Betr is a sports gaming and sports media company. Lead investors include Harmony Partners, 10x Capital, Fuel Venture Capital, Aliya Capital Partners, and Roger Ehrenberg/Eberg Capital, alongside others. One local husband and wife duo is helping the DoD revolutionize fluid delivery systems for everything from helicopters to rockets. Zulu Pods has raised $3M through government contracts and is currently raising a $3.5M seed round from institutional investors. Finally, congratulations to Tampa Bay Wave for winning a $250K award from the NOAA. In a partnership with the University of South Florida and the St. Petersburg Innovation District, the Wave will use the funds to create the BlueTech|X Accelerator.

Georgia

Atlanta-based Fulcrum Equity Partners closed its Fund V with an impressive $372M raise. “We think this speaks to the fact that the Southeast is the fastest growing economic region in the country but is still underserved from a capital & funding perspective,” Managing Partner Lewis said. Fulcrum invests in healthcare services and B2B companies across the country. Fund V aims to make 16 to 18 investments. The Technology Association of Georgia released its annual list of the 2024 Top 40 Innovative Companies in Georgia. The list showcases the diversity of talent across the state, with nearly half of the companies having a founder/co-founder from an underrepresented background.

North Carolina

Electronic Lab Logs, a Wilmington-based healthcare tech startup, says it plans to close a second seed round of $1.8M by the end of the month. Early-stage VC firm VentureSouth has committed to lead the round. Electronic Lab Logs helps labs standardize data and documents. According to JLL, a global real estate firm, the Research Triangle is the nation's top biomanufacturing hub. Recent notable announcements include Lilly’s $450M expansion; Invidior’s $60M sterile manufacturing plant; and FUJIFILM Diosynth’s $2B biomanufacturing site in Holly Springs. Congratulations to CytexOrtho for winning the inaugural OrthoPitch Technology Competition during the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in San Francisco. CytexOrtho has a novel hip implant designed to naturally restore joints instead of artificially replacing them. Most of CytexOrtho’s $18.4M in grant funding to date has come from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

South Carolina

In Greenville, Village Launch announced its new catalytic fund to provide $25K to $75K in loans to graduates of its program. The Village Launch Catalytic Fund, in partnership with Abundance Capital, will provide approved entrepreneurs with flexible capital and benefits not available through traditional lending. Dig South’s Charleston AI Summit launches in 12 days. Register here.

Tennessee

Congrats to the 2024 What's the Big Idea? pitch competition winner, HumanAI. HumanAI is a company that helps small businesses work with AI to map out their online content. Also in Knoxville, 10 startups have been selected as participants in the Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator that launched March 11th. Each is a promising, early-stage company focused on emerging technologies across industries including AI, climate tech, advanced materials and manufacturing, biotech, medtech, and clean energy. Finally, check out the new InvestTN Portfolio site. LaunchTN has been deploying capital through InvestTN, a $70M equity investment fund.