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NC IDEA-backed Tweener Fund Expansion Opens Funding Path For Wilmington Startups

NC IDEA-backed Tweener Fund Expansion Opens Funding Path For Wilmington Startups

When NC IDEA announced it had signed an agreement to become the anchor investor in the Triangle Tweener Fund with a $4 million, five-year limited partner investment, the Tweener fund’s reach effectively expanded from the Triangle region to the entire state. 

The change, which rebranded the fund as the NC Tweener Fund, puts early-stage startups in Wilmington in the running for funding. 

Robbie Allen, general partner of the fund, spoke Thursday at an event hosted by the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington to share insights into how the fund will operate going forward and to offer advice to early-stage companies seeking capital. 

The event, held at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was moderated by NEW founder Jim Roberts.

The Tweener Fund’s index-style investment strategy doles out smaller investments across a larger number of companies dubbed “Tweeners,” which must have either $1 million in annual revenue or at least 10 employees. 

Scot Wingo, CEO of Raleigh-based ReFiBuy, launched the Triangle Tweener list in 2015. Allen joined the fund in 2022, the same year it began making investments. 

According to Allen, the fund has invested a little over $11 million in around 165 discrete companies over time. 

“I don’t believe you can pick the winners in the early stage. I think there’s just too much luck involved,” Allen said. “I believe the index-based approach is the right one, for the same reason that if you ask any reasonable person about the public markets… It’s now pretty universal that the index always beats the individual stock picker.”

According to Allen, the typical check size for companies is between $25,000 and $50,000 for what he calls “Pre-Tweeners,” and $50,000 and $150,000 for Tweeners.

Find a full list of the over 250 Triangle companies that meet the “Tweeners” criteria here. Not all of the companies on the list have received Tweener funding.

“Think of Triangle Tweeners as the ‘Goldilocks’ companies in the Triangle,” the fund’s website states,  “not too small and not too large. These are our future breakouts, big fund-raisers, acquisition targets and (fingers crossed) IPOs.”

Previously limited to early-stage companies in the Triangle area, the Tweener Fund’s anchor investment from NC IDEA allows it to cast a much wider net across the state. 

“NC IDEA recognizes that growing North Carolina-based entrepreneurial ventures cite a lack of access to investment capital as a major barrier to expansion,” the press release announcing the strategic investor relationship agreement said. 

“When local funding falls short, these startups are forced to scale more slowly or secure funding from outside the state,” the release said, “increasing the likelihood of relocating operations and shifting economic impact elsewhere.”

Since the fund operates as a rolling fund, it’s always open to new accredited investors. According to its website, the minimum investment is $20,000, or four investments of $5,000 each quarter, with the goal of investing in 12 to 18 “Tweeners” and “Pre-Tweeners” each quarter.

“With the North Carolina Tweener Fund, our minimum (investment) is $30,000… $7,500 per quarter for four quarters,” Allen said. “We try to take all the money that we raised that quarter and put it into companies… and then now you have a little piece of ownership in all of those companies that we invested in that quarter.”

Allen previously co-founded and led three companies, Automated Insights, Infinia ML and Bionic Health, which have since been acquired by larger firms. He is also the founder and managing director of Automated Consulting Group, which advises executive teams on AI strategy.