The Southeast investor report: angels, family offices and fast-growing metros

• 2,691 Southeast startup-investor records; 1,103 in Florida.
• Angels: 26% of records (US 18%). Family offices: 36% (US 25%).
• Miami, Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte are the four largest metros.
• 730 list pre-seed; median check $150K to $1M.
• Angel networks are a main route to an opening check in the region.

Key findings

• 2,691 US startup-investor records in our database are based in the 12 Southeast states covered here, 9.3% of US startup-investor records with a known state.
• Florida has 1,103 of them. Georgia (399), North Carolina (396), Tennessee (273) and Virginia (214) follow.
• Angels and family offices carry more weight here than nationally: angels are 26% of Southeast records (US: 18%) and family offices 36% (US: 25%).
• 730 Southeast investors list pre-seed and 1,463 list seed.
• Organized angel networks rank high: VentureSouth, Florida Funders, Wolfpack Investor Network and Bridge Angel Investors are among the firms with the most investor records in the region.

Why a Southeast report

Founders across the Southeast build in every sector, but the capital near them looks different from the coastal model. Venture firms and partners are 43% of Southeast records against 58% nationally, while angels and family offices fill more of the gap. If you are raising in Atlanta, Nashville, Raleigh, Birmingham or Tampa, the playbook that works in San Francisco will miss much of the money near you. This report uses the Zalarma investor database, as of 2026-11-01 to show where Southeast investors are and how they invest.

Startup investors by Southeast state

"Under 10" means the count is too small to publish; West Virginia has fewer than 10 startup-investor records in total and is not shown. Florida's lead comes largely from South Florida. In Arkansas, almost every startup-investor record in our data is a family office (56 of 61).

The four big metros

Miami is the largest investor market in the region by a wide margin and has the most pre-seed investors. Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte each lean heavily on family offices. See Miami, Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte.

Cities beyond the big four

Tampa (93), Raleigh (66) and Durham (42), Birmingham (34) and Little Rock (34) all have investor benches worth mapping before you look out of state.

What Southeast investors fund

Share is of Southeast startup investors who list at least one sector (1,538), next to the US share.

The sector mix tracks the national one closely. Healthcare (36% vs 33%), fintech (35% vs 33%) and education technology are slightly over-represented; consumer and machine learning are slightly under.

Stages and check sizes

• Stages listed: pre-seed 730, seed 1,463, Series A 783, Series B and later 410.
• Median check range: $150K to $1M, against $150K to $3M for all US startup investors.
• Check bands by minimum (1,589 with a stated check): under $50K 219; $50K–$250K 720; $250K–$1M 361; $1M+ 289.

A $1M median ceiling means most Southeast investors fit into a pre-seed or seed round rather than leading a large one. Plan for several checks.

Firms with the most investor records in the region

Records in brackets: VentureSouth (26), Plexus Capital, LLC (18), Florida Funders (18), Ridgemont Equity Partners (12), Hatteras Venture Partners (10). Others with several records include Ballast Point Ventures, Wolfpack Investor Network, BIP Ventures, Bridge Angel Investors, Resolute Capital Partners, Fuel Venture Capital, Lead Capital Partners. Several are angel networks that pool many members, which is why they rank high; others are private-equity or growth firms that list later stages, so check stage fit before pitching.

What to do with this

1. Apply to the angel networks. In the Southeast they are a main route to an opening check. Read our guide to angel groups.
2. Map family offices through advisors. At 36% of records they are too big to skip; bankers, lawyers and accountants are the usual path.
3. Raise regionally. A Raleigh founder can pitch Charlotte, Atlanta and Nashville in the same month.
4. Bring a lead before going national. A local lead makes it easier for out-of-state funds to follow.

State lists: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

Methods note

Data: Zalarma investor database, as of 2026-11-01. For this report the Southeast is 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Texas has its own report, and Washington, DC and Maryland are not included. Records are US startup investors (angels, venture firms and partners, micro-VCs, family offices, corporate VCs and accelerators) with a state in the region; one record can carry several types, stages and sectors. Sector shares use as the base the records that list at least one sector. Metro figures use our metro definitions and may include a few records from neighboring states. Firm counts are the number of investor records tied to that firm. Counts under 10 are suppressed. These are records in our database, not a census of every Southeast investor.