By Joe Darcy, Principal

One of the first pieces of advice I received when breaking into VC (shout out to Whitnie at First Round) was to listen to Harry Stebbings’ 20 Minute VC podcast. While invaluable for learning the trade, hearing countless stories about how my now-colleagues think about the art and science of VC, little did I know it would prove invaluable in the pandemic world we’re living in.

Like many VC’s, time management is one of the biggest challenges of the role(I know, cue the world’s smallest violin about this sob story). As the Zoom-filled world of 2020…

By Lister Delgado, Managing Partner

I am excited to write about why IDEA Fund Partners decided to invest in Pangea and lead the company’s first equity round of funding. I’ll start by saying that I am glad to finally invest in a team of graduates from Brown University, my alma mater. Pangea’s team is young, smart, and driven, and they understand well their market. I am enthusiastic about our Pangea investment because I think the team is pursuing a clear opportunity in a big and still underserved market. …

An Inside Look through the Eyes of Our Spring Venture Fellows Cohort

Last Spring, IDEA Fund Partners hosted our latest class of Venture Fellows, a program to provide on-the-job experience to student and young professionals looking to learn more about venture capital. These Fellows from around the country were not merely observers on the sidelines -they played an integral part in the team by being fully immersed in the deal review, due diligence, and broader strategy of the firm. Their contributions and insights will last much longer than the ten weeks they spent with us. …

A Reflection on My Past Home Technology Theses

by Chris Langford, Partner

I have often told the story when I first meet someone professionally that I have been “accidentally” involved in the housing industry for nearly two decades. Out of business school, I joined a boutique investment bank in Florida during the housing boom of the mid-2000s and by virtue of the times I worked on M&A and financings of homebuilders, building product distributors and specialty contractors. It was a great way to learn the inner workings of each industry by themselves and also the inter-connected nature of the industries…

By Chris Langford, Partner

We at IDEA Fund Partners want to continue to provide insights into the investments that we make to provide a better view into how we underwrite and what excites us as investors. Although a bit tardy in its writing, we are excited to detail our thinking about the investment we made in Poppy at the end of 2020. Poppy is a digital-first platform that brings together brides- and grooms-to-be with on-trend design, farm-direct flowers and top notch local floral arrangers to deliver an Instagram-worthy wedding and a modern purchasing experience at or below the cost of…

By John Cambier, Managing Partner

We are excited to announce that we recently made our 13th new investment out of IDEA Fund III, leading the Seed round for Fenris Digital out of Richmond, VA. We were exposed to Fenris multiple times over a short period in late 2020 via a couple insurtech programs we keep an eye on. Joe Darcy and John Cambier each saw the pitch independently of the other and both came away wanting to learn more.

As we dug in, it became increasingly clear that Fenris had all of the key attributes we look for in terms…

As one of the oldest and most active early-stage venture capital firms in the Southeast, IDEA Fund Partners’ investment philosophy has been honed from years of experience. Based in Durham, NC, we fund entrepreneurs who are applying technology and business model innovations to industries in the earliest stages of digital disruption with an emphasis on overlooked people, places and stages.

IDEA Fund Partners is seeking ambitious, engaged, and intellectually curious candidates to join the Venture Fellows program, assisting with an array of firm matters and examining the next generation of startups and innovation. This internship is open to undergraduate and…

by Chris Langford, Partner

Charlotte’s Got A Lot. That’s the slogan that the city has used for some time to describe why people should move to or visit Charlotte. I moved to Charlotte eleven and a half years ago and I must say that the slogan feels both accurate and aspirational at the same time. On one hand, the city is the number two banking center in the United Sates, is home to eight Fortune 500 companies, has one of the fastest growing populations and is rapidly distinguishing itself in the culinary and brewing arts. It is less than two…