FORT MYERS, Fla. — A first of its kind venture capital initiative has launched in southwest Florida. Spearheaded by Gingras Global, the people behind it say there’s a lot of focus on agricultural investments which could have a big impact in Hendry County.
It’s called ‘Cap Table Nation’ - a comprehensive set of 12 tools designed to attract investors and their capital. A few of the tools are designed to get companies ready to be invested in once the money is on the ground. Gingras global says the fast-growing southwest Florida area has been needing something like this.
Romy Kochan, CEO of Gingras Global, highlighted the untapped potential of the region, stating, "It's got all this opportunity coming in. All of these larger corporations potentially wanting to come in for agriculture tech and all this amazing stuff, but there's no type of funding to help give that a warm hug when it gets here."
The initiative seeks to support companies across Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, Glades, and Sarasota counties, with Kochan outlining a particular focus on innovating agricultural technology in Hendry County.
“Agriculture is broader than people understand. I think we’ll be able to help tell the story a little bit of all the things agriculture touches,” Kochan added.
Gene McAvoy, a specialized horticulture agent in Southwest Florida with a long-standing legacy in Florida agriculture, elaborated on wide range of impact agriculture has, saying, “When you look at all the indirect employment effects across the United States and in Florida, it generates about 20% of the jobs out there. It’s not only farmers and farm workers - it’s truck drivers, it’s people that manufacture goods from agricultural products, it’s restaurants and hotels that prepare and serve food. So, agriculture is pretty wide reaching.”
McAvoy also emphasized the transformative potential of technological innovations in agriculture. He noted, "Anything we can do to reduce the manual stoop labor involved with agriculture or make labor more efficient by incorporating machines and computers into the process, the more efficient and effective agriculture becomes."
The first round of funding for Cap Table Nation opened on February 26th, with a target to raise $20 million. Kochan revealed that once $5 million is raised, investments will begin. She says the money raised will go towards two funds - one designed to help grow new companies, and the other focusing on existing ones.
“We believe this can become the next ‘it’ place in the nation if it’s got investment,” Kochan stated.
