Angel and VC Funding

Alexandria Seed Capital

RTP-based Alexandria Venture Investments provides seed funding to novel drug discovery platforms, diagnostics, medical technologies and bioinformatics-driven healthcare solutions. The funding program started in 2019 when Alexandria absorbed its former AgTech Accelerator, transforming the concept into a new seed-stage VC platform and in-house incubator (Alexandria LaunchLabs). Funding opportunities are sourced from Alexandria LaunchLabs and Alexandria’s national network.

Alumshares

Alumshares is a platform that enables university alumni to invest in spinout companies from their alma mater. The Raleigh-based startup recently led a $1.6 million Series A funding round for Lindy Bioscffiences, a biotech company that started with technology licensed from Duke University. They’ve also partnered with NC State’s Wolfpack Investor Network for investments.

Blue Hill Group

Led by Triangle investor Steven Lerner, Chapel Hill-based Blue Hill Group is a private equity investment firm that funds companies with promising tech solutions.

Bull City Venture Partners

A Durham fund that primarily invests in seed and early-stage software and internet startups. BCVP has a reputation for its early leads in some of the region’s most fastest-growing startups, like Zift Solutions and Spiffy.

Charlotte Angel Fund

Charlotte Angel Fund invests in a range of early-stage startups across North Carolina, including many in the Triangle area. Typical investments reach around $50,000 per company, depending on the size of the investment round. The group focuses on tech startups that are addressing a large market.

Cofounders Capital

This Cary-based seed fund is managed by local serial entrepreneur David Gardner. The group is made up of more than 70 advisors and mentors who are dedicated to funding promising startups, as well as supporting them with prototyping, vetting and discovering beta customers.

Colopy Ventures

Durham-based Colopy Ventures is a seed-stage investor that primarily focuses on startups who are building SaaS and cloud platforms. The firm is led by local entrepreneur Joe Colopy, former founder and CEO of Bronto Software (acquired by NetSuite and later Oracle).

Hatteras Venture Partners

A local venture capital firm that typically invests in biopharma, diagnostics, healthcare IT and medtech startups based in North Carolina and throughout the Southeast. Many portfolio companies are affiliated with universities or research institutions.

Idea Fund Partners

A VC firm that focuses on seed and early-stage companies in North Carolina and throughout the Southeast, providing early investments from $100,000 to $750,000 per round. The firm will often revisit its portfolio startups as they develop, for even more investments in future rounds. Last year, Idea Fund was named North Carolina’s most active venture fund by CB Insights.

Inception Micro Angel Fund RTP

A collective of new and successful investors in the Research Triangle Park region from a diversity of disciplines. The fund supports seed-stage ventures primarily in the Triangle (but sometimes outside the region) with high growth potential.

Jurassic Capital

Jurassic Capital is a private equity firm that was created out of Colopy Ventures, led by Joe Colopy, former founder and CEO of Durham-based Bronto Software (acquired by NetSuite and later Oracle). Colopy started Jurassic Capital in October 2019 alongside former Bronto executive Kevin Mosley. The firm is focused on acquiring and investing in Southeast U.S.-based B2B SaaS startups with annual recurring revenue of $1 million to $5 million.

Leyline Renewable Capital

Durham-based Leyline Renewable Capital invests in pre-construction renewable energy projects to help developers scale their business. The fund has backed a few projects in North Carolina, including poultry and swine waste projects and two landfill gas projects.

Modern Energy Group

Based in Durham, Modern Energy Group is an asset management firm that invests in startups with clean energy technologies.

Pappas Capital

Pappas Capital, now running for 25+ years, is a Durham-based VC firm that invests exclusively in the life sciences sector. Its portfolio companies span areas of biotech, biopharmaceuticals, drug delivery and medical devices.

Resilient Ventures

Durham-based angel investment fund Resilient Ventures formed in 2019 to provide funding and support for black founders. The fund aims to raise $10 million to invest in companies over the next five years.

REX Health Ventures

Formed in 2012 as an extension of UNC REX Healthcare‘s innovation initiatives, REX Health Ventures targets early-stage to mid-stage companies developing healthcare services, healthcare IT, medical devices and biopharma technology. The fund’s portfolio includes several high-growth companies based in the RTP area.

River Cities Capital Funds

River Cities Capital Funds invests in growth-stage startups with healthcare and IT products. The firm targets companies generating over $5 million in revenue. The size of initial investments ranges from $5 million to $15 million. Though it’s headquartered in Cincinnati, River Cities has a big presence in the Triangle, with an office in Raleigh and numerous local startups on its portfolio.

River Wise Ventures

Durham investment firm River Wise Ventures aims to acquire Southeast-based companies with annual sales between $1.5 million and $20 million. Its focus is on startups in the Carolinas and Virginia.

RTP Capital

A local seed and early-stage angel network that primarily supports tech-focused startups in North Carolina. Investments typically range from $100,000 to $500,000, and the group considers follow-on deals with startups that receive other investments from its members. The firm was recognized on The Angel Resource Institute’s list of the top 10 most active angel groups in 2016.

SJF Ventures

SJF Ventures is an impact investing VC firm headquartered in Durham. SJF typically invests $1 million to $10 million in companies focused on cleantech, sustainable agriculture, education and health, among other areas.

Social Venture Circle

Social Venture Circle is a Durham-based early-stage impact investing network that funds startups exploring ways to improve the environment, education and health.

Solidarity Capital Group

Cary investment firm Solidarity Capital Group funds seed, early-stage or growth-stage startups who are building solutions to social and environmental problems. The firm typically invests around $50,000 to $250,000 initially, with the possibility to lead or participate in larger rounds up to $1 million.

The Launch Place

This Danville, Virginia-headquartered organization expanded to Research Triangle Park a few years ago, offering local ventures access to pre-seed and seed capital. The organization also hosts an annual Big Launch Challenge, where startups pitch for a cash prize and capital opportunities.

Triangle Angel Partners

An active group of local angel investors who are also (or have experience as) executives, PhDs, successful entrepreneurs and professional investors.

TrueBridge Capital Partners

Established in 2007, Chapel Hill-based TrueBridge Capital Partners provides both venture fund investing and direct investing for mid- to late-stage technology companies. They also publish an annual market analysis report covering venture capital industry trends.

VentureSouth

VentureSouth is an angel investor group based out of Greenville, South Carolina. The network of over 300 investors seeks to fund early-stage companies throughout the Southeast. VentureSouth typically invests between $250,000 to $1 million in startups with market-ready products and services.

xElle Ventures

Launched in August 2019, Durham-based xElle Ventures is an angel network made up of women founders, executives and investors. The group has 15 founding members and a growing list of potential future members. xElle provides mentoring, marketing and loan financing to its portfolio companies.

University-affiliated angel and venture groups

Carolina Angel Network

An alumni base of 70,000 angel investors who are dedicated to linking UNC Chapel Hill’s entrepreneurial community with early-stage funding. The network facilitates financial transactions through a screening process, connecting student teams and companies with outside investor contacts and opportunities.

Duke Angel Network

Funds student startups, so long as the ventures are led by founder(s) who are either Duke students, or part of the university’s alumni network, faculty or staff.

NC State Chancellor’s Innovation Fund

An arm of the university’s Office of Technology Commercialization and New Ventures that provides up to $75,000 to short-term research projects that focus on commercial results.

Triangle Venture Alliance

A network of alumni angel groups that formed in partnership with Duke, UNC, NCSU and NCCU. The organization connects funding sources to startups founded by students, alumni, staff, faculty and families.

Wolfpack Investor Network

A group that helps provide seed and Series A equity capital to companies with some sort of NC State connection, whether it be a founder, executive, donor or board member who is an alumnus, faculty or staff member, student or parent, or has licensed NCSU intellectual property. In 2019, the group surpassed more than $10 million in investments.

Crunchbase Resources

• List of prominent investors in Raleigh
• List of prominent investors in Durham
• Top North Carolina investors
• Top angel investors in Southeast U.S.

Foreign Investment

While venture capital can provide a much-needed accelerant to university innovations and startups, university spinouts should be cautious when accepting investment from foreign-origin private investment groups to avoid being exploited by foreign threat actors.

Learn more by reviewing a federal notice on best practices for safeguarding American innovation when considering foreign private capital.