Inner
Loop Capital, a seed-stage venture capital
firm supporting founders of cybersecurity and enterprise technology
companies in the Washington, D.C. region, today announced a new $2.6
million Syndicate Fund to help fuel the early-stage venture ecosystem in
the region. Founded and managed by Justin Label, an active angel
investor and former Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, the firm aims
to ease the early fundraising process for the most promising D.C. area
founders so that they can accelerate toward hyper-growth and build
companies of global scale and reach.
“Greater Washington D.C. is the largest economy in the U.S. without a
liquid seed-stage venture capital market,” said Label. “The challenges
of raising early capital in the D.C. region are frustrating to local
founders and inhibit the growth of our venture and tech ecosystem. The
outstanding founders of the D.C. region prove there is a viable venture
market here. Nearly $2 billion in venture capital is invested in the
area each year. And yet there is no institutional seed-stage venture
capital fund with a mission of supporting D.C. area founders. We want
this Syndicate Fund, raised from investors who see this opportunity, to
be a step toward addressing that gap.”
The fund will have a primary focus on cybersecurity founders. The D.C.
region, or “Cyber Corridor”, is home to the second-largest concentration
of cybersecurity product companies in the U.S. and has spawned cyber
“unicorns” including Sourcefire, Mandiant, and Tenable. Label gained
substantial experience in cybersecurity while at Bessemer Venture
Partners and focused on the sector as a Baltimore-based angel investor
from 2015 to 2018. He was among the first investors in some of the D.C.
region’s fastest-growing companies, including NS8 and Cybrary, where he
also helped those founders build their initial investor syndicates.
“We’ve named this a Syndicate Fund because it places committed capital
behind the kind of syndicate formation active angel investors do in the
D.C. region. Founders need investors who share their vision, can commit
meaningful dollars at venture speed, and partner with them for a long
journey. We hope this Syndicate Fund brings all those elements together
under one roof for D.C. area founders.”
Gula Tech Adventures, led by Ron and Cyndi Gula, formerly of Tenable
Network Security, Inc., anchored the new Syndicate Fund and was joined
by seven additional Limited Partners including Bloomberg Beta, two
family offices, and several cybersecurity founders.
“We believe strongly in the potential of D.C., Maryland, and Northern
Virginia founders and of building a thriving venture ecosystem in the
region,” said Ron Gula, President of Gula Tech Adventures. “After
co-investing five times with Justin as angel investors, we’re now glad
to formally partner with Inner Loop Capital to continue to back
visionary founders very early in their development.”
The fund aims to make approximately eight seed-stage investments over
eighteen months, with typical initial investments of $300-400k. The
Syndicate Fund can expand as necessary to fund follow-on rounds of its
portfolio companies. Beyond cybersecurity, Inner Loop invests
exclusively in enterprise technology companies, including cloud
infrastructure, data analytics, and enterprise SaaS. Inner Loop will
invest largely in the D.C. area, while also making investments in San
Francisco and other tech hubs to encourage greater cross-pollination of
ideas and capital for D.C. founders.
Since launching in January of 2019, Inner Loop Capital’s Syndicate Fund
has led the Seed round of D.C.-based GreyNoise Intelligence, Inc., and
participated in early financings of Tall Poppy Security, Inc. and
Crosschq, Inc., both of San Francisco.
Area enterprise technology founders and members of the investment
community are invited to join Label and Gula at the National Harbor
Cyber Innovation Wine Down networking event being held on Tuesday, June
18 from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. at The Tasting Room Wine Bar & Shop located at
137 Waterfront Street in Oxon Hill, MD. To RSVP visit https://events.bugcrowd.com/cyberinnovationwinedown/inner-loop-capital.
About Inner Loop Capital
Inner Loop Capital is a seed stage venture capital investment firm
committed to fueling a strong D.C. area early-stage venture market
ecosystem. The firm’s mission includes accelerating D.C. founders’
access to early capital and beyond while encouraging visionary founders
to build the largest, fastest-growing companies possible. Based in
Baltimore, MD, Inner Loop invests exclusively in enterprise technology
companies in the Washington D.C. area and beyond, with a particular
focus on cybersecurity. For more information visit www.innerloopcap.com
or Twitter: @innerloopcap, or contact justin@innerloopcap.com.
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