Central Mississippi Angel Fund to Invest in High-Growth Startups

Innovate Mississippi is pleased to announce the launch of the Central Mississippi Angel Fund I, a community-based investment fund. Investors based in Central Mississippi have established the fund to encourage startup growth in the region and to offer a risk-adjusted return to member investors.

The Central Mississippi Angel Fund is the second regional fund Innovate Mississippi has helped launch in the past couple of years. The North Mississippi Angel Fund, launched in 2018, has been active in funding various startups.

The regional funds make it easier for investors to network and collaborate on investments in early-stage companies. They are organized regionally for convenience and to take advantage of regional relationships, although each fund can participate in deals statewide or throughout the nation. Regional angel funds are in the planning stages for Oxford (covering the Mississippi Delta) and for the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Along with helping the regional funds get started, Innovate Mississippi maintains the statewide Mississippi Angel Network, composed of 300 investors that companies can access through Innovate Mississippi.

“Our existing angel network is already statewide, but we want to give investors an option to participate more collaboratively via an angel fund,” said Tony Jeff, CEO and president of Innovate Mississippi. “The regional angel funds are also easy ‘one-stop’ options that help entrepreneurs find investors.”

The Central Mississippi Angel Fund’s president and administrator is Matthew McLaughlin, an attorney and investor based in Jackson. The fund will still be open to new investors until it closes its first deal, most likely in the spring of 2021.

“I am honored that the other members of the Central Mississippi Angel Fund have chosen me to serve as the president and administrator of the fund,” McLaughlin said. “Having helped organize and form various other angel funds throughout the state, I know the Central Mississippi Angel Fund will be an invaluable tool for early-stage, innovation-based businesses looking for capital and mentorship. We look forward to working with other local and regional funds and filling a critical void in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Central Mississippi and beyond.”

While Jeff expects that Innovate Mississippi will present many investor-ready deals to the fund, he points out that the fund is fully independent in its decision-making. Investor members are likely to bring deals to the fund and organized funds like this often are part of syndicated deals from around the country.

The fund is open to preliminary inquiries from entrepreneurs and individual investors should contact the fund for more information if they want to join. To learn more and contact the fund, visit www.centralmississippiangelfund.com.