Nearly every investor in the first Tamarind Hill VC fund five years ago returned for Fund II – many doubling their commitments, the firm's leaders say. The $50 million fund exceeded its target.
Also, new limited partners include entrepreneurs from portfolio companies that were acquired, said Mark Shary, co-founder and managing partner of the Dublin venture capital firm.
With a larger fund, Tamarind Hill more often will lead rounds, he said in an interview. It made seven investments while still raising the fund.
"We see no shortage of good startups," Shary said.
Founded in 2017 by Shary and Ben Trumbull, who lives in Ann Arbor, Tamarind Hill added to record fundraising last year by U.S. firms, even as startup investing slowed.
"More good companies will create more good funds (in Central Ohio)," Shary said. "Funds don’t show up hoping good companies will follow. Really it works the other way around."
The almost $20 million Fund I invested in 10 companies and has returned nearly all its capital to limited partners, Shary said, with "plenty of good performers left."
Three portfolio companies were acquired outright: Dublin-based Updox for $143 million by EverCommerce, Columbus-based diagnostic AI software maker Deep Lens by an as-yet-undisclosed company, and Pittsburgh-based TrackAbout by Datacor.
Tamarind Hill also got a return on its early investment in Westerville-based Vantage Point Logistics Inc. in September, when private equity firm LLR Partners made a "significant growth investment," according to a release. The amount and size of ownership stake was not disclosed. VPL makes supply chain software for the healthcare industry.
New Central Ohio investments from Fund II include:
- Dublin-based Monitored Therapeutics Inc., a medical device maker planning to add 35 jobs.
- Columbus-based Prescribe Fit Inc., leading a $4 million round.
- Columbus-based Enzee, which digitizes required quality assurance checks for hospitals.
- Dublin-based IncludeHealth Inc., one of Columbus Inno's 2023 Startups to Watch.
Another new portfolio company, Health IT startup Nymbl Systems Inc., moved in the fall to Dublin's Bridge Park from Lexington, Kentucky, saying the vibrant Central Ohio tech community can help it reach a larger scale faster.
"I’m not going to take any credit for that – other than we picked a good city to be in ourselves," Shary said.
Also with its office in Bridge Park, the firm focuses on digital health and logistics software, mostly with early startups that already have revenue from subscription software.
Several healthcare and finance executives have joined as partners: Steve Allen, retired CEO of Nationwide Children's Hospital; Mike Louge, retired COO of OhioHealth Corp.; and David Verbance, a former investment executive at Nationwide. The late Claus von Zychlin also had joined after retiring from Mount Carmel Health System.
The founders first chose the firm's name because the tamarind tree grows in harsh conditions on “craggy hillsides,” yet produces large fruit. That applies as the firm guides portfolio companies through a predicted recession.
Shary, who started his first software company in 1992, said he's been through several economic cycles. No matter the external circumstances, it's how a startup executes its plan that matters.
"Even without the weight of the downturn in funding seed-stage companies, they have a fair number of challenges to make it to the next level," he said. "It’s sort of always been the formula.
"We’re operators turned investors, not investors turned investors."
