North Carolina Lands International VC Firm, Taps Local Talent To Grow Southeast Presence

On Aug 26, 2022

North Carolina has landed a new international VC. SixThirty, a St. Louis-based firm with roots in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Amsterdam, announced it is opening up operations in the Research Triangle area and is tapping a local investor to do just that.

Joe Darcy, who received his MBA from UNC, brings both Wall Street and VC experience to the new position as an investor at SixThirty. Most recently, Darcy was at Durham-based IDEA Fund Partners.

SixThirty focuses on fintech, insurtech, cybersecurity, and digital health startups and works to connect those startups with its list of corporate sponsors. The firm has been around since 2013 and raised $20 million in 2018 for its SixThirty 2.0, according to Crunchbase.

Darcy told Hypepotamus that he will be splitting his time between the investing side of the business while supporting the firm’s corporate sponsors and portfolio companies.

“There’s a lot written out there about VCs wanting to add value and bringing their personal experience to the table… I feel with SixThirty’s specific focus at the intersection of wealth, health and privacy, I can uniquely bring my personal experience to the table,” he added.

The SixThirty team has made some investments in the Southeast previously, including in Georgia-based Trust Stamp, Florida-based Pendella, and Virginia-based Fenris.

Hypepotamus asked Darcy about what it means for SixThirty to be entering the North Carolina area at this time. He said that he “fundamentally believes that great companies can be built anywhere, anytime, in the best of times and the worst of times. We are early stage investors. We like to say when the clay is wet, we can help to mold it…but we also know that inherently at the seed stage, there’s a lot of volatility and a lot of variability. That’s why I’m super excited to be at SixThirty.”

He added that “at the end of the day, we’re building a global portfolio, which inherently helps to diversify risk and inherently helps to create opportunities for founders and our underlying corporate partners.”

Triangle startups have brought in $5.9 billion in venture funding over the past decade, with investors drawn to the strong MedTech and FinTech industries. Darcy said that the state’s “firm foundation from the universities and the legacy tech companies” means all good things for the overall startup community.