THE JUMP FUND in Chattanooga recapped its recent investments in a release Nov. 24, 2014.

The Fund said in a release it had invested more than $500K total via investments of undisclosed magnitude in SuperFanU, co-founded by Kayla Mount, COO, in Louisville; Feetz Inc., founded by Lucy Beard, CEO, graduate of the GigTank accelerator in Chattanooga; International Coffee Group (ICG), founded by Jennifer Stone, CEO in Chattanooga; Rooibee Red Tea, Heather Howell, CTeaO, in Louisville; and, eDivv, co-founded by Casey Casterline, CEO, in Memphis.

Full text release from JumpFund:

Chattanooga, Tennessee: The JumpFund has recently invested in five women-led growth ventures, two of which are located in Chattanooga and three others throughout the Southeast.

Over $500,000 in equity investments have been made to date by the women-focused angel investment fund, which raised $2.5 million from women angel investors as of June, 2014.

The JumpFund’s portfolio now includes: SuperFanU, co-founded by Kayla Mount, COO, in Louisville, KY; Feetz, Inc, founded by Lucy Beard, CEO, graduate of the GigTank accelerator in Chattanooga, TN; International Coffee Group (ICG), founded by Jennifer Stone, CEO in Chattanooga; Rooibee Red Tea, Heather Howell, CTeaO, in Louisville; and eDivv, co-founded by Casey Casterline, CEO, in Memphis, TN.

The JumpFund partners have board positions on three of the companies, SuperFanU, ICG, and Feetz.

The fund’s first investment, SuperFanU, is a mobile, sports fan engagement platform that is taking the college and university markets by storm while ICG is launching Demours, a high-end, luxury brand coffee targeting online connoisseurs as well as upscale restaurants. Feetz, a 3D printed shoe company which targets the hard-to-fit feet market with “SizeMe” shoe technology, is taking shoe design and production to a whole new level of customization. Feetz founder Lucy Beard and her husband Nigel Beard, CTO, moved from San Diego, CA after participating in Chattanooga’s GigTank accelerator program this past summer. The warm reception and positive support of Chattanooga’s entrepreneurial community made them want to be a part of the innovative momentum in our city. “Our GigTank experience was fantastic and the city of Chattanooga is an emerging start-up technology hub,” says Lucy, “A start-up getting support like this is amazing and we have happily relocated to our new manufacturing and office space at the INCubator (Hamilton County’s Business Development Center).”

The JumpFund’s vision is to establish Chattanooga and the Southeast as the nation’s best place for a woman to invest in or start a business. By engaging an untapped market of angel investors, namely women, and investing in women-led start-ups, which by all measures receive significantly less capital than their male-led counterparts, the JumpFund is helping to change the gender equation in the start-up community.

“We have been overwhelmed with substantial deal flow of exceptional, high growth, women-led companies since opening our doors last June. The demand for new avenues for capital from women-led companies is evident and even more than we had imagined,” states Kristina Montague, Managing Partner. The JumpFund is a corporate affiliate of Golden Seeds, a New York-based angel investor network investing over $60mm in women-led companies. And over the past year the JumpFund has grown its network of like-minded angel groups to include Belle Michigan, xSquared Angels, and the Women’s Capital Connection, all organized networks and funds investing in women.

To apply for funding from the JumpFund, companies must by women-led with at least one or more women in “C” level positions with a significant equity stake in their company. The company must also demonstrate its potential to scale upwards of $20mm in revenues and have a clear exit strategy. The JumpFund is led by six General Partners -- Kristina Montague (Managing Partner), Cory Allison, Betsy Blunt Brown, Shelley Prevost, Tiffanie Robinson and Leonora Williamson – and has over 50 women investors. ###