There’s a new family office in town seeking to make investments in startups located in Dallas and across Texas. And it’s already invested in its first local startup, Selery Fulfillment.
JF2 Capital calls itself a family office venture capital firm, which basically means it’s an investment firm backed by a sole investor. In this case that sole investor is Jon Frankel, an entrepreneur that started his first company at age 17. Frankel made his money selling two startups in the credit card processing industry. The Plano resident then hooked up with Aaron Pierce, a former analyst at J.P. Morgan who aided in wealth management who now helps Frankel find deals as a part of JF2 Capital.
The family office plans to invest $10 million in 15 to 20 early-stage, revenue generating startups over the next two years. The investments are expected to be between $250,000 and $1 million, with the average check amounting to $500,000. The firm is particularly interested in business-to-business startups providing technology-enabled solutions.
Farmers Branch-based Selery Fulfillment, which specializes in warehousing and fulfillment for e-commerce companies, was the perfect fit for the firm’s first investment, Pierce said. The company, which is also backed by Dallas-based Deep Space Ventures and Mark Cuban, continued to show progress. “Any time I checked on them, they were just doing better and better, growing in sales, doubling and tripling,” Pierce said. The total size of the funding round was not disclosed, but it included funds from previous investors including Deep Space Ventures and Cuban.
JF2 Capital is located in North Dallas, with Pierce serving as the main source of contact. “We’re here, and we’re looking to fuel the Dallas ecosystem,” he said. “We’re here to invest in great companies and great management teams.”
