2024 in Focus: Bronze Valley’s Impact and Growth
This past year has been a productive one for us at Bronze Valley, marked by new additions to our investment portfolio, ongoing achievements by our portfolio companies, and the expansion of our accelerators and programming. We remain steadfast in our commitment to empowering underrepresented founders, which will continue to ground the work that we do, building upon our portfolio which is made up of 91% founders of color and 52% female founders.
Bronze Valley Impact
Bronze Valley has invested $5.5M to-date across 45 companies, including one exit last year.
The impact of those investments, 96% of which were made outside of traditional tech hubs, includes the creation of over 709 jobs, $112M in revenue generated, and $89M in follow-on capital.
2024 Investments
We welcomed 14 new investments across 11 states to our portfolio, spanning healthcare, education, AI, and fintech industries. We’re proud to add these founders and companies who are addressing access gaps and identifying new opportunities in their respective areas of expertise:
- Adravision, an AI-powered dental software
- Botco.ai, GenAI platform powered chatbots
- Brevity, an AI-powered sales role-play platform
- Companion Candles, nontoxic, pet-friendly candles
- EmpoweRx, a healthcare staffing platform for clinicians
- FilmHedge, a financing platform for TV and film
- Generation Conscious, developing sustainable laundry sheets
- Highnote, an audio file-sharing and collaboration platform for audio files
- Kai XR, an immersive VR learning platform for students
- Nicklpass, a subscription management platform for enterprises
- Pay4Me, an app for cross-border payments for international students
- Pye, providing self-ordering kiosks for restaurants and retail industries
- Roam Creative, a graphic design business management platform
- Wears, providing authentic sneaker rentals
Portfolio Company Momentum
Despite market challenges, our portfolio companies have continued to make significant business strides, as many secured new funding and enhanced their visibility. We’re proud to call out just a few of our portfolio companies’ successes in 2024.
Acclinate raised a $7M Series A led by Cencora Ventures to accelerate health equity. The funding will fuel Acclinate’s expansion and elevate its Enhanced Diversity in Clinical Trials (e-DICT) platform. In September, they were recognized at the Fast Company Innovation Festival for being a Best Workplace for Innovators in Healthcare.
City Detect raised a $2M Seed Round led by Las Olas Venture Capital. The company is using the funds to accelerate its growth and expand adoption among municipalities across North America.
We had one exit investment, Major Care, earlier this year. Major Care was acquired in May 2024 by Pacify, a premier provider of maternity care solutions.
And, congratulations to the wildwonder team for being listed as #74 on Inc 5000's 2024 Fastest Growing Companies!
Expanding Our Reach through Programming & Events
Since our inception, we’ve advised over 500 startups through the Bronze Valley VentureLab. In 2024, we deepened our commitment to Alabama's startup ecosystem by opening Tech Row, a new VentureLab space in Birmingham. Since its launch, Tech Row has hosted seven events, including investor mixers, breakfasts, an open house, and accelerator alumni gatherings.
We successfully ran three cohorts in our accelerator programs in Alabama. To further elevate the startups we support across the state, the Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator portfolio companies were featured at Founders Fest 2024 in Birmingham. Our portfolio company, Pay4Me, won 1st Place in the Most Investable Category.
Beyond Alabama, we continued to grow our presence in other markets. In Delaware, we supported 10 startups, expanding our impact across the Northeast and the broader U.S.
As we reflect on this year’s progress, we are inspired to continue building on this momentum, driving meaningful impact, and supporting the growth and success of underrepresented founders in 2025. We’ll be talking more about what you can expect to see from Bronze Valley in our next blog, so stay tuned!
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