New Survey Shows How 72 Southeast Founders Are Really Feeling About Business Right Now

RALEIGH-DURHAM, September 23 (Hypepotamus) - How are Southeast founders really feeling right now? 

Front Porch Venture Partners put out a survey to find out. They’ve recently released their findings. The Southeast Startup Founder Pulse Survey, which was published this week, highlights how 72 founders from across the region are feeling about business and funding opportunities. 

This is a follow up to Front Porch Venture Partners’ VC Pulse Survey (previous Hypepotamus reporting here). 

You can explore the full survey and report here.

Our Main Takeaways 

• Businesses are confident: When asked about growth and revenue potential, 88% said they saw opportunities as being significantly better for the next 12 months. 71% report that they expect to expand headcount in the coming year. And that’s good to hear after a rocky few years of tech companies adjusting to the new realities of AI. 
• Startups are ready to raise: 64% of founders who replied to the survey said they are preparing to launch an institutional raise within the next six months. But the past 6-12 months have been filled with a lot of financing events of different flavors (think inventory bridges, SAFE extensions, and incomplete angel rounds). 
• What’s in a stage these days? The survey points to the fact that the redefinition of pre-seed, seed, and Series A continues…and that is driving confusion. One seed-stage founder in South Carolina answered the survey by saying: “Investor groups want more mature companies that are further along…don’t call yourself a seed / pre-seed investor and then go on to say your ARR requirements are $500l - $1 million.” 

What the Front Porch Team Is Saying 

“One of my bigger surprises in the survey was the confidence of non-software founders versus software founders right now. Maybe this shouldn't be a surprise because it does reflect the sentiment of non-software versus software investors in our springtime VC survey. But it is kind of amazing to see the rapid acceleration of categories beyond software like hard tech, physical AI, and dual-use in the Southeast. There is thankfully a lot more to venture than B2B SaaS these days,” co-founder and general partner Joe Mancini told Hypepotamus.

Featured Photo by Clay Banks / Unsplash