Investor Outlook | Reflecting on the postive and negative portfolio developments of 2025
In our second Investor Outlook of the year, investors across the state provide a pulse on the health and wellness of their portfolios, as well as economic indicators.
Over the next six weeks, seven venture capitalists, angel investors, and lenders from across Tennessee will provide insights in their own words, reflecting on 2025 and their plans for the new year.
This week’s question operates as a launch point for candid conversation about the developments that are top of mind for each investor. Some spoke plainly about portfolio performance, while others examined the startup ecosystem as a whole.
Grady Vanderhoofven, Three Roots Capital
“Our portfolio performed very well in 2025. Any company that wanted to raise money in 2025 was able to do so. Companies that were generating revenue when we came into 2025 are generating more revenue as we exit 2025.”
“This year, we closed 37 transactions. We totalled $50 million in capital deployment this year, and that’s just our capital, which doesn’t include co-investors, it doesn’t include syndication.”
Learn more about Three Roots Capital.
Eric Dobson, Community Equity Partners
“Our portfolios fared fairly well; the ones that did go under, we kind of expected to. We had one company return $1 million to us, which we could turn around and give to our investors before Christmas. So, that was a nice Christmas present. We started investing in that company in 2017 when it was valued at something like $15 million, and now they’re valued at over half a billion.”
“That same company was eight different rounds over eight years of investing, and it’s and we expect tremendous things out of them next year. Two other companies expect to return money in 2026. Besides them, we could write eight to $12 million in checks to our investors next year. And if we do that, that will flood liquidity back into our system.”
Learn more about Community Equity Partners.
Travis Monasco, Solas Bioventures
“We had a lot of progress with a lot of our portfolio companies, meaning meeting meaningful, you know, clinical and regulatory milestones. A company that we’ve seeded called Francis Medical, which is in the prostate cancer treatment space, just recently got its 510(k) clearance from the FDA, and we’ve been funders of them since 2017.”
“We also have therapeutics companies such as Basking Biosciences and Arrivo Bio that have been quietly executing, and getting their clinical trials done, and that is amazing.”
Learn more about Sola Bioventures.
Brandon Bruce, Market Square Ventures
“The big wins for us in 2025 were that several of the portfolio companies that we invested in in 2024 raised markup rounds. Their valuation is up, and they’ve taken on additional capital to help them grow. So we’re really excited about that. And then two, the deal flow that we saw this year has been excellent.”
Learn more about Market Square Ventures.
Eller Kelliher, Invest Tennessee
“Program to date, Invest Tennessee has expended $22 million– 2023 to 2025. This year alone, we have expended close to $5.5 million, bringing the total portfolio count to 53 individual companies.”
“I’m proud of our impact in this area. Startups are they’re finding their way, regardless of these major shifts in the economy and major shifts in how investors are deploying funds. So founders are getting really scrappy. They’re raising funds primarily from high-net-worth individuals and angel investors.”
“Another positive development has been that there’s so much momentum and energy around Nashville. More venture funds are putting partners or associates here in town, which is leading to more outside capital getting engaged in the city and in the state.”
Haley Zapolski, Lighthouse
“The biggest wins are always when founders cross a million dollars in revenue. But we can’t always share those numbers. So instead, you have to publicly celebrate recent rounds raised. Some of the rounds that got me really pumped up this past year were Jimmy Speyer at GlassHouse closing a $3 million seed. Grace Hansen at Elysian, closing a $6 million seed. Simba Jonga at Laborup, closing around $7 million in total, and Joey Kim at Longview, closing a $4.5 million seed. Honestly, the list goes on.”
Cam Doody, Brickyard
“For our first fund, we’re probably well into the top decile on fund performance in terms of total value to paid in capital. And then our second fund is a top-quartile fund. But if our two biggest markups had been done on price rounds instead of safes, we’d probably be a top 1 percent fund.”
“We’ve had a couple of exits already. One of our companies was sold to Nvidia last year. We’re going to have some very public, large rounds that are announced this year in 2026, and we are excited for that.”
Jay Shaffer, Atlanta Tech Angels, and Venture South
“The positive developments are that AI has changed everything. So the best analogy that I’ve heard is that AI is doing to data analysis what the handheld calculator did for math. It’s not going away. So, we joke that it’s against the law to pitch to investors without having AI in your deck.”
“I’ve invested in more healthcare companies than I ever thought I would. I don’t seek them out, but somehow they find me. We have a couple of companies that are ready to go to market in 2026, so I’m hoping that they will make progress and get to market this year.”
Learn more about Atlanta Tech Angels.
Learn more about Venture South.
We will return with the next rendition of the Investor Outlook Series on Wednesday, January 21. We will not be publishing on Monday, January 19, in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!