HELPING COMPANIES NAVIGATE THEIR JOURNEY
WELCOME TO THE
SOUTHEAST INVESTOR GROUP
The Southeast Investor Group (SEIG) is a private peer-to-peer membership, composed of partners from 25 Venture Capital Funds, 5 Corporate Venture Funds, and 20 individual investors and family offices.
We are not an angel group; rather we are a collaboration of professional investors seeking to invest in growth stage technology companies.
SEIG members invest in post-early stage through Series A, B, and successive funding rounds. Most companies are seeking $2M to $15M in each investment.
28
Years
270+
Companies
Funded
50+
Members
$3B+
Managed
Capital
OUR HISTORY
SEIG was founded in 1995 to offer intelligent capital and experienced management support for growth technology companies in the Southeast. We meet monthly in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 50+ members bring a variety of technology and operational experience and reside in nine Southeast states, Texas, and D.C. We encourage and foster co-investing.
Over the most recent five-year history, SEIG Members annually invested in an average of 35% of the presenting companies.
Collectively, the membership manages more than $3B of investment capital, and since inception, SEIG Members have invested in more than 270 companies.
SEIG SPONSORED MBA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
SEIG’s foremost mission is to train young business professionals, during their two-year MBA study, for careers in Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Corporate Development.
Each MBA Fellow is competitively selected from the MBA programs at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and Scheller College of Business at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Each Fellow receives:
-
Hands-on experience in venture capital: identifying, interviewing and processing technology growth stage companies directly with Southeast CEOs.
-
A portfolio of candidate companies, monitoring them for market maturity and appropriate raise timing to be selected to present to Investor Member meetings.
-
Assignments to individual venture investor members to build relationships, and through interaction, gain insight on investment strategy and analysis.
The SEIG Chairman and Investor Members assist with access to summer internships as well as long term employment after graduation.
TARGETED INDUSTRIES
SEIG invests in a variety of technology segments including, but not limited to:
-
Business Products (B2B)
-
Agtech/Sustainability
-
Cloud Services/SaaS
-
Communications/Media/Entertainment
-
Data Analytics
-
FinTech
-
Healthcare IT
-
Network Security and Cyber-Security
-
Machine Learning & AI Tools
-
MarTech
-
Blockchain Applications
-
IoT Device Systems
-
Manufacture/Logistics/ Supply Chain
INVESTMENT FOCUS
We monitor and meet with companies that are past early stage and are raising growth financing. They are typically seeking $2M -$15M in capital.
We look for companies that have unique technology, can show real demand through customer traction, and have the potential to grow exponentially by executing a defined market strategy.
OPERATIONS
Fellows
SEIG is managed by Chairman Martin Tilson and Co-Founder Bernard Gray, and staffed by eight MBA interns who manage their own portfolios of select companies.
The two-year Fellowships are funded by SEIG Member and Co-Founder, Bernard Gray.
Monthly Member Meeting
The SEIG monthly member meetings (typically the first Tuesday of the month), are held at a private club in Atlanta. They are also occasionally offered virtually.
SEIG may hold special Webcasts for those companies that need more expedited attention due to the timing of their investment.
CAPITAL TO ACCELERATE GROWTH
COMPANY SELECTION PROCESS
SEIG searches the Southeast technology hubs every day for companies that meet our investment criteria. Once identified, we make initial calls to CEOs to discuss components of the business.
SEIG Fellows curate the companies to validate the information and categorize each company by stage, industry, and amount being raised. Fellows maintain companies in the SEIG database for follow-up.
On a monthly basis, candidate companies are selected by to the SEIG Screening Committee to present. Once selected, SEIG Fellows and Members hold mandatory coaching sessions on company pitches to maximize the success of their presentations to investors.
Within 48 hours after the meeting, select Fellows and Members follow-up with each presenting company to provide feedback and make investor contacts available.
Additionally, presenting companies remain on our watch list to be tracked for potential later rounds.
REFER
We depend on knowledgable and trusted Referrals who understand the SEIG investment criteria, and we welcome meeting new sources.
SCREEN
The eight-member screening committee is composed of representative VC, Corporate, and
Individual investor members.
PRESENT
Selected companies are invited to present at our monthly meeting in Atlanta, held the first
Tuesday of the month, or sometimes as a Webcast.
FOLLOW UP
Presenting companies are contacted within 48 hours and are provided member introductions/ level of interest, and tracked monthly.
SELECTED INVESTMENTS
SELECTED EXITS
Sold to AeroVironment
Sold to Web.com
Sold to PDI Technologies
Sold to GameSquare Holdings
Sold to ExitLag
Sold to Greater Sum Ventures
Sold to Phoenix Lighting
Sold to United Technologies
Sold to Elasticsearch
Sold to Microsoft
Sold to Q2
Sold to Level Equity
Sold to PTC
Sold to Accel-KKR
Recap by Vista Equity Partners
Sold to Pumatech, Inc.
Sold to ADVA Optical Networking
Sold to Tricentis
Sold to Hexagon
Sold to Atlas
Sold to IBM
Sold to HP
FOUNDING TEAM
Martin Tilson
SEIG Chairman and Co-Founder. Martin is former Partner at Kilpatrick Stockton, is an active investor, and also provides strategic business and financial advice to select company management. He served in management and chaired the technology practices at two AmLaw 100 law firms.
Bernard Gray
SEIG Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and General Partner of Gray Ventures serving as a board member, observer, or advisor to each of the invested companies, which cumulatively generated exit values in excess of $1.5 billion and created more than 2,500 jobs. He also manages a Fund of Funds.
MBA FELLOWS
Carson Cromartie
Carson Cromartie is a recent JD/MBA graduate from Emory University. Prior to his graduate studies, he was a senior financial associate for Pratt & Whitney. Carson is currently working full time as a Senior Associate at Silicon Road Ventures.
Pat Forrestal
Pat Forrestal is a second-year full-time MBA candidate at Emory University. Prior to pursuing an MBA, Pat served for five years in the United States Marine Corps as an Aviation Supply Officer. He interned with EY-Parthenon over the summer and is currently interning with TTV Capital, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm.
Qazi Haq
Qazi Haq is a first-year full-time MBA student at Emory University. Prior to pursuing an MBA, he was a Consultant for EY-Parthenon, focusing on strategy and transactions for financial services clients. Qazi is exploring internship and post-MBA roles in venture capital and private equity.
Alex Swan
Alex Swan is a second-year full-time MBA student at Georgia Tech. Prior to pursuing an MBA, he was a Consultant for FW Cook, an executive compensation consulting firm. Alex interned with Genuine Parts Company's Transformation team over the summer and is currently interning with Seven Seas Capital, an Atlanta-based search fund.