Community Equity Partners launches new venture arm to fuel later‑stage growth in the Interior Innovation Corridor
Community Equity Ventures is a new fund from Community Equity Partners that invests in later-stage growth companies in five core verticals in Tennessee and beyond.
For nearly two decades, Community Equity Partners (CEP) has been a quiet but steady force behind technology startups in Tennessee and the Southeast. Founded by Eric Dobson, the group has built a reputation for helping technical founders shift from inventor to entrepreneur.
Since 2007, CEP’s network of angels has completed 132 rounds of capital across 73 startups. The group has deployed $17.75 million, with more than half already returned to investors. Today, the portfolio shows significant potential, with CEP estimating more than $123 million in possible exit value.
Now Dobson believes it is time to take the model further.
Introducing Community Equity Ventures
Dobson has launched Community Equity Ventures (CEV), a new investment arm designed to support later‑stage, research‑driven companies across the Interior Innovation Corridor. The region stretches from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast and from the Appalachians to the Plains, and Dobson has repeatedly emphasized its density of research universities and laboratories as a strategic advantage.
Like CEP, CEV will be powered by a network of angel investors and industry experts. Dobson said the new effort will include a strong bench of general partners, along with a formal partnership with Cincinnati‑based Allura Capital.
While CEP focuses on early‑stage investments and founder development, CEV will zero in on companies that have matured beyond the earliest stages and are ready to scale. The fund will target five core verticals: femtech, artificial intelligence, aerospace, medical technologies, and Web3.
How do CEV and CEP work together?
Dobson has long said that the Southeast lacks the natural capital continuum seen in hubs like Silicon Valley, New York, and even the Research Triangle. In those places, founders benefit from clusters of investors and advisors who naturally follow companies through each funding stage.
“In places like Knoxville, that does not happen naturally. You have to create that,” Dobson said. “Our angel group will continue making first investments through CEP, and the high‑growth companies will naturally matriculate into Community Equity Ventures.”
This layered structure gives founders a clearer path from pre‑seed to growth capital while keeping decision‑makers rooted in the region. It also aligns with Dobson’s long‑standing emphasis on helping technical founders evolve their leadership and commercial strategy.
What founders should know
CEV expects to make its first investments in the first quarter of 2026. Dobson said the team is looking for companies that already have a lead investor, want to share diligence, and are interested in accessing the broader syndicate network.
For early‑stage entrepreneurs, CEP remains the entry point. The group continues to prioritize intellectual property‑backed startups across deep tech, hard tech, medtech, advanced manufacturing, and more, as highlighted in recent Investor Outlook interviews.
Together, CEP and CEV aim to provide something the region has not consistently had: a full investment pipeline built for founders who are commercializing research, scaling strategically, and choosing to grow in the Interior Innovation Corridor.
Read more about Community Equity Ventures here.
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