Unlock Your Business Growth
Launch your crowdfunding campaign with confidence. Access vetted investors, streamlined processes, and expert guidance to raise capital for your business.
Two Ways to Raise Capital
Whether you want to rally your local community or partner with experienced angel investors, Vicinity Ventures can help you fund your next stage of growth.
Public Offerings
Raise From Your Community
Launch a Regulation Crowdfunding campaign on the Vicinity platform. Raise up to $5 million per year from accredited and non-accredited investors through equity, revenue share, or term loan offerings, turning your customers into investors and brand ambassadors.
Private Offerings
Raise From VentureSouth Angels
Pitch VentureSouth, one of the most active angel investment groups in the country. VentureSouth members invest capital and expertise in scalable PreSeed and Seed-stage companies based in the Southeastern United States.
Regulation Crowdfunding on the Vicinity platform
Public Offerings
Raise From Your Community
Quick Facts
We help facilitate funding for your growing business. But it’s more than the money. We connect you to community members who not only support you financially, but who can also become brand ambassadors within your vicinity.
$5M to Raise
You can raise up to $5 million per year from accredited and non-accredited investors.
Minimal upfront cost
Success-based fees create aligned platform incentive to yield successful raises.
2-4 Week Setup
2-4 weeks for due diligence, then 4 weeks to prepare and file Form C.
Getting Started
Reach out to us —
we’d love to hear from you
and help you begin your funding journey!
Types of Offerings
Equity / Convertible Note
Raise capital by selling equity shares to accredited and non-accredited investors through Regulation CF.
Revenue Share
Offer investors a percentage of future revenue in exchange for upfront capital investment.
Term Loan
A standard loan repaid with interest on a set schedule
Equity/Convertible Note
Equity/Convertible Note:
Offer actual stock ownership through preferred or common shares. Preferred stockholders receive dividends first and priority in liquidation. A lead investor helps negotiate terms and valuation. Returns only occur when the company is acquired or goes public with increased value.
Revenue-based Equity:
Investors buy equity, company repurchases portions using revenue percentage at set multiple (2x), providing returns while leaving equity for future upside
A flexible loan paid back from a set percentage of your revenues. Repayment amounts adjust based on sales performance, typically a multiple of 1.25x to 3x the fundraise. Performance updates and a percentage of revenue are reported to investors quarterly.
Term Loan
A standard loan with regular quarterly or annual payments, an annual interest rate, and a set maturity date. Terms may include a grace period, payment deferral options, subordination for senior lenders, and asset-backed security.
Promoting Your Business
What do I need?
Simply put, we look at “People, Plan, and Pro Forma (financial projections)”. First, you need to be able to tell your story. This will be the basis of your campaign page.
Before you can raise funds with us, you will need to file a Form C with the SEC. This includes at least a 2-year independent financial review.
For more details on financials or our Legal Primer, contact us at info@vicinityventures.co.
Advertising Your Raise
Crowdfunding cannot be done offline. All Reg CF investments are required to be made through a funding portal or a broker-dealer.
Using a “testing the waters” provision, you can start gauging interest in your offering. You can advertise through any means – newsletters, social media, Vicinity events, even smoke signals.
Angel investment from VentureSouth members
Private Offerings
VentureSouth members invest in scalable early-stage ventures based in the Southeastern United States at the PreSeed or Seed stage. To seek investment from VentureSouth members, first please review our investment criteria below. If your company is a fit, please reach out. And check out our educational materials to improve your chances of securing funding.
Investment Criteria
VentureSouth members invest in companies:
- Based in the Southeastern United States
- Led by a management team that is talented, trustworthy, determined and resourceful
- Raising Seed or Series A funding, usually in the form of preferred equity
- Generating initial revenue or entering the market with initial customer demand
- Deploying a business model that can scale with speed and capital efficiency
- With potential to generate a 50% annual rate of return on investment over 3-5 years
What to Expect
Securing investment is difficult. VentureSouth reviews many companies each month, but only ~1% of the companies that start the process receive funding. Competition is high and you’ll need to demonstrate a compelling value proposition and strong growth potential.
Quick tips: be prepared, do your homework on how angels invest, develop a one-page executive summary and a compelling 10-12 page investor deck, and be organized and professional – you’ll already be ahead of the pack.
Our Process
1. Initial Conversation
Try to track us down through a warm introduction. If you can’t, just get in touch to get introduced.
Include a brief business overview and attach an executive summary or a pitch deck. If we’re impressed, we’ll schedule time to learn more. We do not sign NDAs.
Tip: don’t send a lengthy business plan or rambling story.
2. Screening Meeting
If we’re still intrigued after the introductory call, we’ll invite you to a (virtual) screening meeting. Screening meetings are held monthly to hear formal 15-minute pitches and follow-up Q&A – and the sessions are recorded for our members to review and provide feedback.
Tip: take some time to research how to give a good angel pitch. Try here or here, or come to one of our “how to pitch” seminars.
3. Due Diligence
If there is sufficient interest from our members to move into due diligence, a group of VentureSouth staff and investors will conduct a deeper evaluation. We’ll review documents, meet with the management team, ask a bunch of questions, analyze your financials, and make reference calls.
Tip: the more organized you are, the more efficient this process is. We suggest building a dataroom in advance for quick access to key documents.
4. Roadshow
If things go well in diligence, you will be invited to make formal presentations to VentureSouth members during our monthly meetings. These sessions are virtual (again generally 15-minute pitches and follow-up Q&A) and in person in our markets as schedules allow.
Tip: answer with honest and concise answers – other types of responses will undermine your credibility and diminish your chances of funding.
5. Investment
After the diligence process and roadshow pitches, our diligence teams present their findings to our members. If members decide to invest, we will make a capital call, collect their checks, and finalize the transaction documents.
At this point, you get two new shareholders (one for our network entity and one for our sidecar fund) – and you can put that capital to work building a great business!
For founders
Perfecting Your Pitch
There are many guides to angel investing and to raising startup funding, but only one with 101 concrete, practical tips for pitching effectively to angel investors. Perfecting Your Pitch: 101 Tips for Pitching to Angel Investors draws on VentureSouth’s experience reviewing thousands of business plans and watching hundreds of companies pitch for funding. We hope this collective wisdom helps you perfect your pitch.
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Looking to Raise Capital?
Connect with our network of sophisticated investors across the Southeast.