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News
Release No. 602-03
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Ballast Point Ventures Announces First Closing
on $40 Million Venture Capital Fund
in Difficult Fund-raising Environment
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ballast Point Ventures, L.P., a venture capital firm for which Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE-RJF) serves as sponsor, today announced the first closing of a $40 million venture capital fund.
The fund, which will provide growth equity capital to rapidly growing private companies throughout the Southeastern United States and Texas, is the only Florida-based venture fund to raise new money for investments since 2000, according to data gathered by the National Venture Capital Association.
Ballast Point Ventures brings together two of the most respected investment firms in the Southeast – South Atlantic Venture Funds and Raymond James Financial – for the purpose of providing venture capital to high-growth private companies.
Ballast Point’s two managing partners, Richard J. Brandewie and Drew A. Graham, were formerly general partners at South Atlantic Venture Funds.
South Atlantic, founded by Donald W. Burton in 1984, has invested $175 million in more than 60 private companies throughout Florida, the Southeast and Texas and achieved outstanding returns for its investors from 1984 to 2000.
Both Burton and O. Gene Gabbard, a successful entrepreneur and former South Atlantic Ventures Partner, will serve as special limited partners with Ballast Point Ventures. The former South Atlantic team is joined at Ballast Point Ventures by Paul C. Johan, partner, a former investment banker in both the communications and mergers and acquisitions areas with Raymond James & Associates, member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC and subsidiary of Raymond James Financial.
Raymond James Financial Chairman and CEO Thomas A. James and head of equity capital markets for Raymond James & Associates Jeffrey E. Trocin will join the Ballast Point Ventures partners on the investment committee for the fund.
“We are very pleased to have closed on $40 million in commitments in the most difficult fund-raising environment in the last 10 years,” stated Brandewie.
“We have an outstanding group of investors,” he continued, “including more than 40 highly successful entrepreneurs, who are attracted to our conservative, disciplined approach to investing in private growth companies. Although the last year has been a particularly difficult time to raise a venture capital fund, we believe tremendous opportunities now exist to invest in private growth companies at reasonable valuations.”
According to Brandewie, the fund will pursue a diversified approach to its investments and will invest between $1 and $5 million in 15 to 25 portfolio companies in a diverse group of industries, including health care, communications, information technology, business services, financial services and consumer.
“This is a very powerful platform for pursuing private company investments,” noted Johan.
“By bringing together the South Atlantic and Raymond James networks at Ballast Point Ventures,” he added, “we have an opportunity to provide enormous value for our portfolio companies. There are more than 40 analysts in the Research Department and over 50 investment bankers at Raymond James who cover growth industries and have great relationships in their respective industries. We plan to leverage that network.”
The Ballast Point partners achieved their closing in a very difficult fund-raising environment for venture capital funds.
“My hat is off to these guys,” stated Marty Donsky, marketing manager for the Florida Technology Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers and the contact person in Florida for that firm’s nationally known Money Tree Survey of venture capital.
He emphasized, “Very few funds in the Southeastern United States have been successful raising capital in the last 24 months. The first closing of the Ballast Point Ventures Fund is terrific for private growth companies in Florida and the Southeast because this area of the country continues to be underserved by the venture capital community, and that problem has only been made worse as Northeastern and West Coast venture funds have been staying closer to home.”
Ballast Point Ventures is a stand-alone fund with Raymond James Financial serving as its largest single investor with a $7.5 million commitment. The partners will continue to raise capital for the fund through the end of the year.
Raymond James Financial provides financial services to individuals, corporations and municipalities through its three wholly-owned investment firms, Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James Ltd., which have more than 5,000 Financial Advisors in 2,100 locations throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. In addition, its asset management subsidiaries currently manage in excess of $17.5 billion.
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For additional information, please visit www.ballastpointventures.com
or contact Richard J. Brandewie, Drew A. Graham or Paul C. Johan at 727-567-1500.