A York-based venture fund has added to its portfolio of regional startups as it aims to bolster entrepreneurship in Central Pennsylvania.
- Founded in 2020, White Rose Ventures disclosed an inaugural round of investments in four companies earlier this year.
- At the end of last week, it unveiled investments of nearly $1.3 million in three more startups.
Which are: ReturnLogic, Evermind and TEAMology.
- Based in Carlisle, ReturnLogic is a software firm that helps ecommerce companies manage returned goods.
- Evermind is a Lancaster-based maker of plant-based beverages designed to foster brain health. Its tagline is “Happy brain. Happy life.”
- Based in Chambersburg, TEAMology has developed a program to enhance mental wellness in K-12 students, an area of focus around the U.S. in the wake of pandemic disruptions to schooling.
What was invested: $750,000 in ReturnLogic, $250,000 in Evermind and $250,000 in TEAMology.
- It’s not the first capital infusion for ReturnLogic or TEAMology.
- In 2020, ReturnLogic raised $2 million from state-backed venture fund Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed fund led by former AOL exec Steve Case, and other investors.
- Ben Franklin has invested in TEAMology, as well. The company also has drawn support from Invent Penn State and State College-based 1855 Capital.
What’s White Rose Ventures: A fund founded in 2020 by Alexa Born and Martin Fedorko as a means of funneling much-needed capital to the region’s entrepreneurs.
- Since its founding, the fund has invested nearly $3.2 million in local startups.
- Other companies in the portfolio include York-based cyber security company CyberconIQ, Lancaster-based sports training technology company Reflexion and Harrisburg-based fundraising platform Pledge It.
- Rounding out the mix is Naqi Logix. It is developing earbud technology that would allow people to control computerized devices with small gestures.
What’s next: A friends and family fund, in partnership with a nonprofit partner, Braided River Collective, headed by Born.
- The fund’s goal is to support minority entrepreneurs who may lack access to early-stage funding through friends and family.
- Money from social and personal connections can prove critical in the early going but is not equally available to company founders.
