For tech startups in Florida, these venture capital firms offer the best sources of capital and operational support in the region.
Over the last few years, the conversation around funding and where you can scale startups has been slowly changing. The narrative has shifted away from the belief that successful startups can only be born and scaled in Silicon Valley or New York. With eyes elsewhere in the country, Florida is also jumping into the spotlight.
Why Florida?
While Florida is already a top location for real estate investment, it’s also becoming a hub for entrepreneurs, who can get capital to grow their innovative business ideas from angel investors and venture capital firms. Many Florida investors focus on seed-stage startups, though some of the VC firms will invest up to Series A or beyond. Florida is a regional hub for businesses that focus on Latin America, so you’ll see a heavy international perspective in many of the VC firms’ portfolio companies.
Florida’s startup landscape has nearly 500,000 accredited investors at different stages — from seed to late-stage series. Angel and seed rounds make up 59 percent of all the venture deals in Florida. These founders are fostering innovation in virtual reality, AI, blockchain, autonomous vehicles, and IoT industries. Each founder is able to tap into Florida’s more than 60 incubators and accelerators to grow their idea into a scalable product.
The state’s growing tech ecosystem is capturing the attention of large enterprises and veteran tech leaders and investors. In 2016, Bill Gates and Jeff Vinik came together to make significant investment in Tampa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Nielsen Foundation currently powers Tampa Way Wave’s TechDiversity 90-day Accelerator for underrepresented founders.
Former AOL CEO Steve Case, who now travels the country in the Rise of the Rest tour to meet startup founders in often overlooked cities, added Miami to his tour and dispensed an investment to a local startup.
And with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ recent move to Miami, he’s bringing some of Amazon with him. Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, also recently made the move. These high-profile moves are paving the way for tech innovators to consider Miami as an ideal hub to set up shop, with access to world-class investors and business support.
The entrepreneurial hustle in the area is electrifying. A study recently found that the city is home to the most co-working spaces in the country. Several innovation centers and mentorship programs have set up in Miami, including internationally acclaimed Endeavor. After investing in two startups, venture capital fund Silicon Valley’s 500 Startups opened an office downtown. Most recently, South Florida saw a high-profile exit with online pets goods retailer Chewy.com.
It’s not hard to see why Florida is moving up. As a startup founder with an early-stage SaaS startup with a strong A-team in place, it can be difficult to enter the growth stage without funding.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the top early stage and growth stage investors in the state of Florida and a little more about what they’re looking for.
Venture capitalist firm and accelerator PS27 Ventures specializes in investments in early-stage startups in SaaS, health tech, e-commerce, and fintech startups. With values like think big, be real, embrace failure, and remember why — PS27 Ventures supports founders through it all. For its accelerator, the firm brings in select startups to work side-by-side and support them with resources, mentorship, and connections.
“PS27 not only provides capital, we also provide content designed for startups and connections to industry experts,” PS27 Ventures’ founder, Jim Stallings, told us. “Startup teams typically spend an entire year in our program mastering the basics of their financial model and refining their go-to-market plan. The founder is surrounded by our team of experienced professionals working side by side every day to ensure their success.”
Companies they’ve invested in: Telehealth startup Docity Health, custom food ordering startup Hazlnut, and wellness startup Resility.
Growth-stage firm Ballast Point Ventures focus on startups in healthcare, business, communications, information technology, financial services, and consumer/retail industries. The team puts a strong focus on the Southeast and finding exceptional startup founders in their backyard. They’re looking for companies that have a proven business model, well-built leadership team, and promising road map toward growth.
Companies they’ve invested in: Medical services startup SleepMed, SaaS startup Iconixx, and Avoxi, a customer contact center SaaS company.
With offices in Miami, Mexico, and Colombia, H20 Capital focuses on supporting disruptive entrepreneurs that are poised for long-term growth, with a particular focus on Latin America. The company has bet on startups like Tül, an ecommerce marketplace for hardware supplies, which has since raised over $200mil and received an $800mil valuation. General Partner Daniel Lloreda says that Miami is a prime spot for startup investment, as the city has a wealth of tech talent, and is a top city for foreign businesses and foreign investment.
Companies they’ve invested in: ONTOP, a software platform that simplifies international hiring and payroll management, ensuring compliance with local regulations; and Jüsto, a direct-to-consumer e-grocer offering fresh products at competitive prices.
With a focus on expansion capital, venture capital firm Axioma Ventures looks to accelerate the growth of the startup it works with. While a relatively new firm in the Tampa area, the team comes with great pedigree from Fortune 100 executive leadership, including the former CEO of Publix.
Companies they’ve invested in: In 2017, Axioma Ventures led a $21 million Series A for fleet optimizations startup Hyliion. This past April, they led a round for medtech startup Bridge Connector.
Headed by founder Sanket Parekh, Secocha Ventures supports early-stage startups in consumer products & services, fintech, and healthcare technology, emphasizing great ideas and passionate founders, with investments worldwide, including the US, India, Israel, and France. The company has also invested locally, such as healthcare startup CarePredict in Broward, which provides wearable technology and an AI-enhanced platform for remote care and wellness monitoring for seniors.
Companies they’ve invested in: Clare, an ecommerce company reinventing the paint experience; BLING, a personal finance app launching in France; and Feels, an “anti-dating” app that replaces swiping with a variety of interactive experiences.
Florida Funders is the most active VC firm in Florida and the southeast, pooling together angel investors into syndicate groups to fund early-stage tech companies. The venture capital fund partners regularly share insights into the state of the venture capital ecosystem on their blog and podcast, making Florida Funders a must-follow for anyone interested in either investing or raising capital in Florida.
Companies they’ve invested in: 2U Laundry, a platform for on-demand laundry service; ChalkTalk, a SaaS platform for curriculum planning; and TAO Connect, an online platform for managing mental health care.
Early-stage venture capital firm Ocean Azul Partners was founded in 2017. The firm seeks long-term partnerships with passionate founders with innovative solutions to problems within agtech, marketing, biotech, and others. Transparency, resilience, teamwork, and commitment are values they look to share with the founding team. The funding from Ocean Azul Partners should be earmarked for growth after initial traction.
Companies they’ve invested in: Twitch influencer marketing platform Powerspike, robotics startup Senecio, and child development app BabySparks.
Venture capital firm Krillion Ventures seeks companies that are “one in a krillion.” Although they started industry agnostic, the early-stage firm now heavily invests in startups solving issues in healthcare, financial services, and real estate.
In a Miami Herald interview, managing partner Melissa Krinzman shared what they’re looking for in a startup founder: “We have backed entrepreneurs who believe passionately in their goals to solve a problem but who, at the same time, are willing to learn and be flexible. We believe that passion, tenacity and fearlessness are essential. But if not mixed with the ability to accept and process feedback, we’ve seen these three attributes quickly become negatives.”
Companies they’ve invested in: Healthtech startup Cohealo, lead generation platform Fame, and all-in-one publishing solution Everypost.
Led by long-time entrepreneur Mark Kingdon, early-stage firm Quixotic Ventures focuses on social media, e-commerce, and digital media platforms. He currently has four companies with a billion-plus evaluation each in his portfolio. “When I look at a company, I can pretty quickly understand the size, dynamics and attractiveness of the market, the uniqueness of the company’s proposition and the strengths of the team,” Kingdon says in one of his blog posts.
Companies they’ve invested in: Multichannel listing management SellBrite, real estate startup HomeLight, and AI-powered search startup Blackbird.
Early-stage fund Las Olas Venture Capital focuses on enterprise software, digital healthcare, tech-enabled business services, fintech, and edtech — mainly on solutions that can optimize the way the world runs. The firm has made 50+ investments with three successful exits, with a preference for startups that have already shown product market fit to help them scale.
Companies they’ve invested in: End-to-end testing platform Cypress, adtech cybersecurity startup DEVCON, and senior healthcare startup CarePredict.
Previously known as FAN Fund, venture capital firm DeepWork Capital is committed to help high-growth, disruptive companies in cloud computing, healthtech, on-demand services, and business solutions. The Florida-based team has a hands-on approach to mentoring and investing the select startups in their portfolio.
Companies they’ve invested in: On-demand property maintenance service Homee, vendor attire startup RepScrubs, and SaaS-based mobile marketing platform Distrx.
Venture firm Arsenal shares that their focus is on “execution risk.” They look for founders attempting to grow new technologies with recurring revenue and high growth opportunities in enterprise, logistics, and healthcare IT. The firm’s investments have also gone through acquisition and exit paths multiple times.
Companies they’ve invested in: Subscription air filter startup FilterEasy, wellness engagement platform Sharecare, and sales enablement software Accent.
Based in Winter Park, venVelo focuses on early-stage startups with a high touch approach to mentoring. They look for startups with early revenue, open to coachability to set up effective go-t0 market strategies and mentoring.
Companies they’ve invested in: Fintech startup FattMerchant, live multistreaming platform Switchboard Live, and biotech startup Vigilant Biosciences.
Miami Angels is a large angel investing network that invites its members to collectively invest between $200,000 and $500,000 in seed-stage companies, often co-investing alongside top-tier venture capital firms. Beyond providing capital, they offer strategic support, leveraging their extensive network to assist portfolio companies in areas such as talent acquisition and securing future funding. They've invested more than $22 million in 60+ companies.
Companies they've invested in: Fintech startup Marco, fundraising solution Flowlie, connected car technology company Mavi, 3PL solution Cubbo, and influencer platform FanBasis.
Starlight Ventures is dedicated to funding world-changing technologies that use science to solve the world's most pressing challenges. This venture fund invests in companies operating in sectors such as energy transition, industrial biology, space technology, and next-generation platforms. Their strategy involves collaborating with audacious, relentless scientists and founders who confront significant global challenges head-on.
Companies they've invested in: Nuclear power company Blue Energy, decarbonized steam tech company AtmosZero, and fusion energy company Thea Energy.
Fuel Venture Capital employs a "founder-focused, investor-driven" approach, emphasizing close collaboration with entrepreneurs to drive innovation and growth. They currently have over 30 portfolio companies across industry sectors including fintech, marketplace, enterprise SaaS, and entertainment tech.
Companies they've invested in: accounting startup Taxfyle, communication platform eMerge, and fintech platform Lunar.
Even the best business ideas can fall flat if the team doesn’t have fundraising power to help them with development and bringing their product to market. The VC firms listed above each offer a strong approach to supporting startup teams and providing valuable connections and guidance to expedite business growth. They’re a testament to the fact that you don’t need to move Silicon Valley to connect with resources to grow your startup—look to the Sunshine State instead.
(Are we missing your Florida venture capital firm? Send us a note with more info at hello@eucalypt.co, and we’ll be happy to consider it for inclusion.)
Kathryn Hawkins is principal and chief content strategist of Eucalypt Media. She has worked as a freelance journalist for media publications and managed inbound marketing and content strategy for corporate and nonprofit clients for more than 16 years.
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For tech startups in Florida, these venture capital firms offer the best sources of capital and operational support in the region.