Good Growth Capital announces the largest venture fund in South Carolina history
May 18, 2022
Early Stage VC with Three Unicorns in First Fund Announces Over-subscribed Third Fund
Growth Capital has announced the successful raise of its over-subscribed third fund at over $100M. This new fund makes Good Growth Capital the largest venture capital fund in South Carolina history and one of the largest early stage funds in the Southeast. Managing Partner John Osborne, who helped found the Harbor Entrepreneurship Center in Charleston and has been the longtime Executive Director of Charleston Angel Partners, says “The historic size of this fund is yet another milestone in the evolution of this region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. It’s a privilege to bring this to the market.”
The majority women- and minority-owned firm is known for investing early in complex technologies that are yielding top returns. Good Growth Capital’s first fund, a 2017 vintage, is tracking to earn top-decile returns. “This is the future of venture capital,” says Good Growth Managing Partner David Mendez, who previously started one of the first venture capital funds in the state. Good Growth invests in pre-seed through Series B investments in biomedical and health sciences, green tech, data, and physical and material sciences. Sixty percent of Good Growth’s Managing Partners are female and twenty percent are Latino, and the firm reports more than 75% of Good Growth Capital’s portfolio is led by founders from diverse backgrounds. “We don’t need to give these founders any preference, just a level playing field. Their fantastic growth and returns speak for themselves,” reports Mendez.
Good Growth has four Managing Partners in Charleston, SC and one in Boston, MA. Together the Managing Partners have started 18 entities worth billions of dollars. They are joined by a team of active venture partners and advisors who have started another 30+ companies and are world leaders in technology commercialization. Managing Partner Carolyne La Sala, whose prior experience includes launching and leading both iTunes Europe and the App Store for Apple, explains, ”We designed Good Growth to be able to collaborate across industries, to find and support the best multi-disciplinary startups, regardless of their origins.”
Prior investments from Good Growth Capital that have reached valuations of over US $1 billion include SkyHawk Therapeutics, a drug discovery and development company; Republic, a regulated crowdfunding platform that matches startups to investors seeking early-stage equity investment opportunities; and an alternative energy investment that is still in stealth mode. The firm began investing in these companies at their earliest stages and credits its capacity for funding and growing early-stage companies for much of its success.
Lita Nelsen, retired director of MIT’s Technology Licensing Office and now licensing consultant and advisor to GGC, understands the value of Good Growth’s technical and operational expertise for investing at the earliest stages of a company’s development. Nelsen says, “There is a real shortage for funding early stage companies in bio and other tech emerging from university research. Good Growth’s first funds were small, but launched dozens of great companies. This larger fund will enable them to do even more, thereby helping to fill an important niche in the entrepreneurial environment.”
Managing Partner Amy Salzhauer adds, “When Maureen Stancik Boyce and I envisioned this fund, our goal was to create both the kind of fund we would have wanted to work with as entrepreneurs, and also the kind of fund we wanted to invest in ourselves. We work hard for our portfolio companies and we love what we do.” Boyce, the fund’s fifth Managing Partner, and Salzhauer had previously started multiple tech companies together and have worked together for 23 years.
About Good Growth Capital
Good Growth Capital is a majority women and minority-managed early-stage venture capital firm with offices in Charleston, SC and Boston, MA, that funds transformative start-ups in sectors including health tech, green tech and data sciences. Good Growth Capital is the most active venture fund in the state of South Carolina. Good Growth Capital is majority women- and minority-owned and managed and its funds meet both ESG and UNSDG impact goals. Learn more about our strategy and our portfolio at our website: https://www.goodgrowthvc.com/.
