GREENVILLE, S.C. – Despite health and economic challenges brought on by the COVID pandemic, VentureSouth didn’t stop investing in 2020.

The angel investment group, headquartered in Greenville, S.C., invested roughly $9.2 million in 26 early-stage companies last year.

North Carolina represented half of the deal flow – with $5.2 invested in 14 companies coming from the Old North State.

Among the companies receiving follow-on investments: Kwipped in Wilmington, ProctorFree in Charlotte, Reveal Mobile, Get Spiffy, Altis Biosystems, Baebies, and UVision from Research Triangle.

New investments included  Live Furnish in Winston-Salem, an image production technology platform for the furnishings industry; Durham-based Seal the Seasons, a locally-sourced frozen fruits and vegetable company; and Soelect, a Greensboro-based startup that is working on commercially viable, low-cost solution for solid-state battery.

Source: VentureSouth

South Carolina nabbed second spot with eight companies and $2.5 million invested. The remaining four investments came from other parts of the Southeast.

“We entered this pandemic just as many other investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders did – concerned about our portfolio companies and uncertain how they would weather the storm,” said Charlie Banks, VentureSouth’s managing director, in a statement.

NC startups make up more than half of VentureSouth’s deal flow in 2020. Here’s why

“However, the positive response from our investor members and the resourceful, tenacious responses from the many founders throughout our portfolio proved to be both effective and inspiring. The crucible of challenges in 2020 have helped further our belief in the strength of entrepreneurs and startups in the region, as well as the infrastructure we’ve built to enable a broad base of investors to fund them with conviction.”

VentureSouth is one of the largest early-stage investment groups in the Southeast, with more than 300 private investors in 13 local chapters across the Carolinas. The firm has invested nearly $52.8 million in over 80 companies.