One of the questions investors often ask startups is “who else is doing what you are doing?”
So it’s only fair that RollingSouth tackles this question too.
Since they were launched in February 2020, there have been dozens of AngelList Rolling Funds – many of them on here. They cover an impressive range of investment theses, investing teams, geographies, and niches. A saturated market already?
We don’t believe so. Almost none operate in the Southeast; in fact, we believe there are only three based here, and none of them are focused only on investments in this region.
- Pomp Investments: formed by Anthony Pompliano, investor, media personality and Bitcoin advocate, focused primarily on crypto-related startups, and invests nationally from Pomp’s base in NC.
- Sustainable Food Ventures: GPs Ryan and Mariliis are based in Durham, from where they invest exclusively in food-related companies nationally.
- LAB PropTech: from their base in Miami, Tigre Wenrich and Rafael Valdivia invest in property technology companies, again nationally / globally.
So no “direct competition” from other Southeastern-based Rolling Funds focused on the Southeast.
How about indirect competition? Looking more widely, RollingSouth competes against Rolling Funds and other early-stage investment vehicles nationally for investors. There are 16 million of households (see this blog post) that could invest in these vehicles – plenty of market even for dozens of early-stage investment vehicles limited to 99 investors each!
Lastly, how about competition for good deals? You might think RollingSouth “competes” against Southeastern early-stage investors for access to investments here. However, if you’re familiar with the local early-stage investment scene, you know that “too many investors chasing too few deals” is NOT the biggest complaint! Silicon Valley might be overrun with investors; Silicon Harbor is not. VentureSouth, and therefore RollingSouth, collaborates with syndication partners across the region to fully fund rounds of even the most exciting companies in the region.