This week we are pleased to announce the final closing of our third “sidecar” fund - the VentureSouth Angel Fund III. You can learn more about it below.
Greenville, S.C. – VentureSouth is pleased to announce that it has closed its third sidecar investment fund, the VentureSouth Angel Fund III, at a record pace, reaching its maximum target size of $5 million.
Raised during 2019, the Fund allows its 82 investors to participate automatically in investments made by active VentureSouth members. It continues the investment strategy of its predecessor Fund I (invested in 18 companies from 2014) and Fund II (invested in 23 companies from 2016). The new Fund coinvests when 10 or more VentureSouth members invest at least $100,000 in a candidate company.
Angel investors can achieve attractive returns when they invest across diverse portfolio companies. This can be difficult to do alone, as it requires access to proprietary deal flow, investment expertise, thorough monitoring, and administrative skill. VentureSouth’s sidecar funds provide investors with those advantages, enhancing the probability of achieving attractive returns, alongside one of the top 10 angel groups in the US.
The fund is already invested in 11 portfolio companies, as VentureSouth continues its rapid pace of investments into southeastern startups this year. This includes companies in South Carolina (like Zylö Therapeutics in Greenville), North Carolina (like Spiffy in Durham), and Virginia (like Outdoor Access in Richmond). It expects to invest in around 10 more southeast-based companies over the next few months, before work begins on future successor funds.
Paul Clark, member of the fund's General Partner, commented: “The third sidecar continues the “index fund” approach to angel investment proven by the first sidecar funds. We welcome over 50 new investors to the fund, attracted by its automatic diversified approach to angel investing; and thank the nearly 30 existing investors for deploying the positive returns generated from their investments in earlier funds. We look forward to continuing to find innovative ways to bring more capital into early stage investing in the southeast."