Venture In The South

S4:E153 David opens with the weekly update in venture and then interviews Pat Gouhin , the CEO of the Angel Capital Association . We discuss: what the ACA is and what it does who are the investor and founder members what members get from the ACA startup investment analytics and reports produced by the ACA the Angel University sponsored by the ACA for introductory and advanced training on the Ventu...

S4:E152 David opens with investment predictions for 2025 and then dishes out the weekly update in Venture. Paul then interviews Lone Wolf Angel Investor Daniel Pomp . We’ve characterized Daniel as a ‘Lone Wolf" because he flies solo in the startup ecosystem, doing his own diligence, soliciting his own deal flow and is frequently the first money into a new startup. He has over 80 companies in...

E151: David opens with the weekly update in venture then kicks off an interview with Fashivly Founder and CEO, Ashlyn Greer . Fashivly is an innovative online fashion platform aiming to disrupt fashion shopping. It sounds like just another shopping site but Fashivly is truly unique in that they have no inventory, have multiple revenue streams, have been profitable from their bootstrapped beginning...

E150: David opens with the weekly venture update then joins Paul to discuss significant portfolio events in 2024 including:  Zylo Therapeutics Aticus Pharma Yuva Bio Case Status RoundlyX luminelle Altis Bio Iconic We then pose some questions for listeners about potential future show topics. (recorded 11.27.24) Follow David on X at https://x.com/DGRollingSouth Connect On LinkedIn with David at http...

E149: David opens with the weekly venture update then joins Paul to discuss the portfolio we wish we could have. What do we wish we could invest in?  This includes opportunities that are out or reach or just a twinkle in a founder's eye such as: We cover what we don't invest in and why The characteristics of an ideal venture investment Manufacturing Tech Space Tech Longevity Tech Power G...

E148: David opens with the weekly venture update then interviews Min Alexander Co-founder and CEO of BOSSCAT , a PropTech startup. BC has been on the Pod twice before in E13 and E63, with phenomenal growth and then contraction with the rise of interest rates squelching the real estate market. Now with a reset to diversify revenue channels and a successful fund raise, BC is set to notch a new reven...

E147: David opens with the weekly venture update then Paul interviews John Cambier , Fund Administrator for the RTP Angel Fund . RTP AF is based in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. It is a committed capital fund launched in the Summer 2023 with an aim to invest in and work with companies to help them grow and achieve scale.  It's a member-managed fund with a diverse inve...

E146: David opens with the weekly venture update then interviews John D. Cooper who leads Catalyst by Wellstar , the corporate venture arm of Wellstar Health System .  Wellstar is an 11-hospital health system in Georgia with multiple ancillary facilities making them a leading healthcare provider in Georgia. Catalyst is an independent but wholly owned subsidiary of Wellstar, a first-of-its-kind glo...

E145: David opens with the weekly venture update then interviews Ryan Heaf y, COO of 6AMCity on their growth, challenges and expectations. David originally interviewed 6AMCity in May 2022 for E16 and for an update in July 2023 for E77 .  As 6AM approaches profitability, David re-interviewed Ryan to understand what has and hasn't worked for 6AM, how they are growing now and what they see ahead...

E144: David updates on Venture for the week, then Paul interviews Thomas Spencer , Co-founder and Chief R&D Office at Scalable Systems Group, formerly known as WasteWizer.  Scalable saw an opportunity to solve a weighty problem in the industrial waste and recycling industry: When is the bin full and ready to empty?  Think about 10,000 bins distributed across 500 to 1,000 sites. Scalable has de...

E143: David updates listeners on Venture for the week, then interviews Josh Miller of Gradient Health about his take on AI from the perspective of data. We discuss his data experience in the context of AI model training and validation, and address some timely questions relevant to the current Era of AI: 1) Is Data where the money is (in addition to GPUs) and is there really future profit in AI mod...

E142: In this three-part episode: - David updates listeners on venture for the week. ( Angel investing is not what it used to be! ) - David & Paul have a detailed review about Convertible Notes: what they are, why they are used, the benefits and risks for founders and investors, and when they work the best. - then to wrap up Paul outlines and rebuts some recent complaints about early stage inv...

E141: David updates listeners on the Southern Ecosystem and follows with an interview with Gina Sloan , Founder and CEO of AGRITX . ConvergeSouth attendees voted AGRITX the top startup at the event. AGRITX is all about the Chicken and Egg problem in terms of industrial hatcheries. Newly laid eggs are typically contaminated with microbial pathogens such as Salmonella and E. Coli that are transmitte...

E140: David provides the Southern Venture Update and Paul follows with an interview with Alexander Olesen , Co-founder of Babylon Micro-Farms .  Babylon® began with the idea of growing food where it was never thought possible. Founders Alexander Olesen and Graham Smith met at the University of Virginia where they first designed a low-cost Micro-Farm™ to provide nutritious produce for food-insecure...

E139: David leads with an update on the Southern Venture Ecosystem and introduces co-host Paul who briefly profiles three companies on The Upstate Upstarts List . Paul explains what the Upstate Upstarts are and why we're interested in these very early stage companies. First is Boyd Cycling with Nicole and Boyd Johnson , a Craft Wheel manufacturing business who have recently pivoted to manufac...

E138: David leads with an update on the Southern Venture Ecosystem and introduces Matt Dunbar to interview Richard Spero , co-founder and CEO of Redbud Labs (RBL). RBL is using breakthrough microfluidics technology to power the next generation of sample preparation products. Founded by experienced scientists and inventors, they are solving and bringing to market, solutions for complex microfluidic...

E137: David starts off with notable weekly trends in the Southern Startup Ecosystem and then Paul interviews Peter Marsh , Founding partner at Flywheel Coworking and and Lead Orgainzer of ConvergeSouth , an event focused on Startup Education, Networking and Fundraising on October 3-4, 2024. Peter previews the offering of two full days of entrepreneurial programming, expert-led breakout sessions, a...

E136: David kicks off with a few updates trending in the Southern Venture Ecosystem and Paul interviews Daniel Summers , Co-founder and CEO of Electronic Lab Logs . The Electronic Lab Logs solution was birthed out of the need to replace the Paper Logs and Binders used to track Maintenance and QC across the lab and even in Point of Care settings. Co-founders Jeremy Sikorski and Daniel Summers teame...

E135: To start the show, David reviews new legislation before the US Senate that would expand the capital market for startups, HB 2799, The Expanding Access to Capital Act . Then he launches into Revenue Operations (RevOps), the core business function of any successful business and critically important for startups. As a new startup transitions from the CEO salesman/marketing lead to a growing tea...

E134: Record vacancies in commercial real estate has become an opportunity for flexible space, but managing a flexible space is a challenge. DeShawn Brown , Co-Founder and CEO of COWORKS , explains how COWORKS software is designed to make life easier for the day-to-day management of flexible space. From traditional hot desk spaces to university entrepreneur programs, from maker-spaces to hybrid of...

E133: Lonestar Data Holdings (LDH) is DropBox on the Moon, for the ultimate in extraterrestrial data security. By initially placing data storage on Cis Lunar satellites LDH has achieved the ultimate in data security, backup and sovereignty in a way not previously possible. The follow-on is lunar based data storage physically on the Moon's surface in 2026. Founder and CEO Chris Stott explains...

E132: Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) are not new, but using them for Venture Philanthropy is an innovative way to pursue impact investing. Abundance Capital extends the ability of new and seasoned philanthropists to unlock community potential, generate inclusive prosperity, and create sustainable local economies across the South. Recommending investments from specialized donor-advised funds, fundholde...

E131: Space may be the final frontier but we'll never move at the speed of light unless we first communicate at the speed of light. That's what x-lumin does, accelerate the technological capabilities of every industry through optical wireless communications (LASER) from ground to air & space and terrestrial point to point. x-lumin's innovation is a proprietary software platform...

E130: Startup Incubators are everywhere but none quite like the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech. E85 reviewed ATDC in detail and today ATDC director John Avery updates listeners on what's happening now at ATDC. They offer three active tracts: 1) ATDC Educate , a foundational curriculum and mentorship for early entrepreneurs. 2) ATDC Accelerate , for early-stage c...

E129: Urban SDK is solving the Traffic and Safety Problems of Cities of all sizes using big data. Their Smart City SaaS solution provides traffic engineers with vehicle data from multiple sources to monitor local roads and analyze traffic patterns related to speeding, safety, and congestion at a very low cost. They provide a system of record for all traffic data, as well as an end-to-end platform...