There are three key components to the Triangle Tweener Fund's strategy: Building an index, focus on Tweeners, and a geographic focus on the Triangle
Based on data from over 7 years of tracking 'Triangle Tweeners', we believe this group of companies has more great outcomes and less closures than other cohorts of companies.
You can find the latest Tweener List here.
The Triangle is a fantastic place to start a company and our geographic focus is a key part of our strategy.
Duke, NC State and UNC are the three core Universities in the Triangle. When it comes to technology companies, one of the top inputs is smart people and no other region beats the Triangle. We call these our “Smart people factories”.
Diverse set of people, industries, universities creating a robust startup ecosystem.
Consistently top 10 places to live, or most moved to cities. This brings a fresh group of people looking to plant roots and grow. Many of these transplants are coming from other larger high-tech hubs.
While entrepreneurs have been quick to move to the Triangle, the early-stage dollars have been slow to migrate here. Less venture means less competition (more ‘wins’/’hits’) and lower valuations.
Transparent database of Tweeners focuses energy on ~250 companies in the Triangle that over $1m ARR
Rolling Fund focused on accelerating the flywheel of the Triangle Tweener startup ecosystem.
As entrepreneurs think of starting new companies, the Tweener List generates confidence in the ecosystem. It also creates a 'hunt list' for new talent moving to the area or transitioning out of large companies or other startups making it easier to hire that CFO. CRO, COO, etc.
The Tweener List has become the go-to 'target list' of external VCs that come to our region.
Many Tweener Co's report an unintended benefit of Tweener List inclusion is inbound sales leads and partnership opportunities.
Successful founders and operators 'give back' to the ecosystem by investing in the Tweener Fund and also advising, supporting and working with the next generation of Tweeners.
The Triangle Tweener Fund strategy is to build an index – smaller investments in a relatively large number of companies. At the current fund size this translates to 10-15 investments a quarter, or 40-60 a year. Second, we are focused on Triangle-based companies. Finally, our focus is early-stage (Seed/Series A) private companies, or Tweeners ($1m/yr and up).
