Successful Past Offerings

The pandemic cycling boom showed Boyd Cycling what it means to depend on factories on the other side of the world. A few years later, the Upstate South Carolina wheel maker turned to its own community to help bring manufacturing home, and raised about $575,000 from local investors through Vicinity Ventures.

At a glance
Company	Boyd Cycling, premium bicycle wheels, Upstate South Carolina
Founded	2009 by former professional cyclist Boyd Johnson
Offering	Regulation Crowdfunding (equity) on Vicinity Ventures
Open	August 2024 to April 2025
Minimum goal	$500,000
Raised	About $575,000, or 115% of the minimum goal

From the racing circuit to the factory floor

Boyd Johnson started Boyd Cycling in 2009 after a decade as a professional cyclist. The company soon narrowed its focus to wheels, launched its own rim and hub designs in 2013, and built a national reputation among serious riders. Boyd and his wife Nicole, also a former professional racer, have run the business together ever since. By the time of the raise, the company reported 15 years of profitable operations.

The problem: a supply chain they didn’t control

When the pandemic cycling boom hit, demand surged and global supply chains came under strain. Like most wheel brands, Boyd relied on overseas factories for its rims, the most critical part of the product. In 2020, the team decided to take control of manufacturing and bring it to South Carolina.

First came Olive Manufacturing Group, a Greenville company that now makes aluminum rims for Boyd and other brands. Then, in early 2024, Boyd’s founders led an investor group that acquired Munich Composites, a German carbon fiber rim maker with a patented, automated braiding process, and began moving its equipment to Landrum, South Carolina. With both, Boyd became one of the only wheel companies in the world to control the manufacturing of its own aluminum and carbon rims.

Why raise from the community?

By the company’s account, Boyd had grown for 15 years by bootstrapping. Scaling U.S. production and taking the brand into global markets needed outside capital, and the company chose to raise it from the people who knew it best: riders, customers and neighbors in the Upstate.

Through Vicinity Ventures, anyone could invest, not just accredited investors. Investors put in money through a single investment vehicle that holds the shares, which kept things simple for both the company and its new shareholders. The offering explained the plan in plain terms: on-shore production, create skilled manufacturing jobs in the Upstate, and sell U.S.-made rims to bike brands and wheel companies that wanted an alternative to overseas suppliers.

The raise passed its $500,000 minimum goal and closed in April 2025 with about $575,000 from the community.

What happened next

• Spring 2025: Boyd expanded U.S. production of both carbon and aluminum rims and showed new products at the Sea Otter Classic in California.
• January 2026: Nicole Johnson became CEO, and Boyd Johnson moved full-time to engineering and product development.
• January 2026: Boyd launched the U.S.-made Podium 36mm Carbon Disc SL wheelset, aimed at riders in the UK and Europe as well as the U.S.
• June 2026: Upgrade Bikes became Boyd’s exclusive distributor to UK bike shops.

Lessons for local businesses

• Your customers can be your investors. A loyal following is a ready-made audience for a community raise.
• A clear local story matters. Bringing jobs and manufacturing to the Upstate gave investors a reason to care beyond the numbers.
• Raise for a specific plan. Boyd had already done the hard groundwork; the raise funded the next step.

Thinking about raising capital from your community? Find out how Vicinity Ventures works for businesses. Want to invest where you live? Create a free account to see current offerings.

This case study describes an offering that has closed and is for information only. It is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. Details of the offering are taken from the company’s offering page and Form C; updates since the raise are based on public reports and have not been independently verified by Vicinity Ventures. Investing in startups and small businesses is risky, investments are illiquid, and you could lose your entire investment. Past results do not predict future results. Sources: Boyd Cycling offering page on Vicinity Ventures; Bicycle Retailer (Mar 10, 2025); SGB Online (Jan 8, 2026); BikeRadar (Jan 15, 2026); BikeBiz (Jun 16, 2026).

In September 2016, VentureSouth members co-led a seed investment in FarmShots, a young Research Triangle company using satellite imagery to help farmers find problems in their fields. Seventeen months later, global agribusiness Syngenta bought the company. And a few years after that, its founder came back to VentureSouth with his next startup.

At a glance
Company	FarmShots, agricultural technology (satellite crop imagery), Research Triangle, NC
Founder	Josh Miller, who started the company while a student at Duke University
Investment	VentureSouth members co-led a $1.1 million seed round, September 2016
Exit	Acquired by Syngenta, February 2018 (terms not disclosed)
Result	About a 50% annualized return for VentureSouth members, as reported in 2018
What came next	VentureSouth members backed Josh’s next company, Gradient Health, in 2022

The problem: scouting fields on foot

Farmers and crop advisers have traditionally found pests, disease, weeds and nutrient problems by walking their fields. It’s slow and expensive, and on large farms it’s easy to miss a problem until it has already cost part of the crop.

The solution: a bird’s-eye view of every field

Josh Miller started FarmShots while a student at Duke University. Its cloud-based software analyzed high-resolution satellite and drone images, reading how plants absorb light to show their health. It flagged issues such as planter skips, insect feeding, nutrient deficiencies, disease and weeds, and could create maps showing where to apply fertilizer or other inputs, and where not to. According to Syngenta, the technology could cut the time spent scouting fields by as much as 90%.

Why VentureSouth invested

VentureSouth members invested in September 2016, co-leading a $1.1 million seed round alongside other local investors. Members were attracted by:

• The founder: Josh Miller’s technical skills and persistence.
• The technology and market: a large, practical opportunity in a sector where the Southeast has real strengths.
• The customer value: clear cost savings and efficiency gains for farmers.

More than money

As with every VentureSouth investment, members didn’t just write checks. They brought experience, introductions and hard questions, and Josh still points to that support years later.

“VentureSouth believed in me when FarmShots was little more than an idea. That early support gave us far more than funding. It connected us with experienced entrepreneurs and investors who challenged our thinking, opened doors, and helped us build a successful company. Years later, as we’re building Gradient Health, those relationships still matter. That’s what makes VentureSouth unique – it invests in founders, not just companies.”

– Josh Miller, founder of FarmShots and founder & CEO of Gradient Health

The exit

FarmShots grew quickly. In January 2018, John Deere named it a “Dealer’s Choice for Innovation.” A month later, Syngenta, one of the world’s largest agribusiness companies, acquired FarmShots. At the time, the platform covered about eight million enrolled acres in the U.S., and Syngenta planned to build it into its AgriEdge Excelsior farm management system and take it worldwide.

Terms were not disclosed, but VentureSouth reported that the investment “definitely hit our return targets,” with about a 50% annualized return for members. FarmShots was one of three exits that helped VentureSouth return nearly $7 million to its investors in 2018.

What came next: the founder flywheel

Good relationships outlast a single deal. In February 2022, VentureSouth members invested in Josh’s next company, Gradient Health, which provides medical imaging data used to build and test AI tools. A VentureSouth angel even helped connect Gradient with one of its first customers. Hear Josh tell the story on the Venture in the South podcast: The Story of Gradient Health (E55) and AI Insights with Josh Miller (E247).

Lessons for angel investors

• Back the founder. Josh’s skills and persistence were at the heart of the investment decision, and they carried into his next company.
• Invest where the region is strong. The Research Triangle’s mix of university science and global agribusiness companies gave FarmShots both talent and a natural buyer.
• Strategic buyers drive exits. Building a product a large industry player wants is often the clearest path to a return.
• Relationships compound. Successful founders who come back with their next company are one of the best sources of future deals.

Interested in investing alongside VentureSouth members? Learn about VentureSouth membership. Founder looking for investors? See how to raise capital.

This case study is for information only and is not an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. VentureSouth investments are private offerings available only to accredited investors. The return figure was reported by VentureSouth in 2018 and reflects one investment; it is not representative of all VentureSouth investments, many of which lose money. Investing in early-stage companies is risky, investments are illiquid, and you could lose your entire investment. Past results do not predict future results. Sources: VentureSouth blog posts (2017–2026); Syngenta announcement via Seed World (Feb 14, 2018); Xconomy (Feb 2018); AgFunder News (Feb 16, 2018); Venture in the South podcast.