Jesse Draper’s venture capital fund focused on early-stage startups with a woman on the founding team, today announced its first nine investments in Alabama, marking a significant milestone one year after partnering with Innovate Alabama to invest $10 million to drive economic development and transform the founder ecosystem statewide.
Halogen Ventures is the first out-of-state venture capital firm to receive strategic funding from the state through Innovate Alabama for their third fund. Since receiving the funding one year ago, Halogen has been on the ground in Alabama, touring innovation centers and research labs, meeting entrepreneurs and state leaders across Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery, and hosting pitch competitions that made national news and put local founders in front of new investment opportunities.
“We came to Alabama not just to invest capital, but to help remove barriers, open doors, and create long-term economic opportunity,” said Jesse Draper, Founding Partner of Halogen Ventures. “We’re seeing real momentum and capital flowing into companies that are hiring, scaling, and putting Alabama on the map as an emerging innovation hub.”
Alabama ranks 50th in the nation for female entrepreneurship, yet its tech sector has surged 50% since 2018 and is projected to double by 2030. Venture capital investment in the state has grown from $3 million a decade ago to $321 million in 2023.
“We are making a calculated bet on one of the most undervalued startup ecosystems in America, and we are just getting started. There is so much opportunity in Alabama and the quality of startups is next level!,” said Draper.
To date, as part of its plan to deploy $10 million across 20 companies over the next two years, Halogen has invested in companies across AI, healthcare, marketplaces, digital finance, workforce technology, robotics, and childcare solutions, including:
- Moxi – A flexible childcare and co-working platform helping working families access quality care and community services.
- Auditocity – An HR technology company automating compliance workflows with AI.
- Croux – An AI-powered staffing marketplace connecting job seekers to flexible, high-paying work opportunities.
- Skyfire AI – Advanced analytics and AI solutions driving enterprise decision-making.
- Nyad AI – An AI-powered operations intelligence platform built for efficiency at scale.
- Doctours – A medical tourism marketplace increasing healthcare access and transparency for patients nationwide.
- Yard – Developer of autonomous robotic workforce solutions for outdoor maintenance.
- KrillPay – A borderless digital wallet delivering affordable, inclusive fintech services across the U.S., Sub-Saharan Africa, and Canada.
- Accelerate Wind – A distributed wind energy company deploying small-scale turbine solutions to deliver affordable, resilient clean power to businesses and communities
These investments expand Halogen’s portfolio of more than 85 female-founded companies, including six unicorns, with a combined market valuation exceeding $15 billion. Notable portfolio companies including parking technology leader Metropolis and Upwards, the largest childcare provider in the U.S., already have a significant presence in Alabama. In the last quarter alone, Halogen Ventures’s businesses have raised over $2 Billion in follow on capital.
