Circadian Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Circadian Ventures is an Atlanta-based early-stage venture firm formed in 2020 by founding partner Mike Dowdle. Its homepage says it "actively partner[s] with exceptional entrepreneurs to build enduring businesses" and invests in various sectors across the United States. The firm does not publish a narrow thesis. Its portfolio is a generalist mix of B2B software (data analytics, data movement, cybersecurity, supply chain, specialty ERP, fintech, healthcare IT, AI recruiting, AI operating systems for services businesses, marketing tech) plus a handful of consumer and hardware names (hypersonic aircraft, robotics, apparel, music licensing).
The firm states four-plus values: Service (persistently serve the needs of founders and companies), Integrity, Transparency, Positivity and Philanthropy. Its pitch to founders leans on operator help rather than a sector thesis, including a Technology Advisory Council of 13 CIOs, CEOs and operators (for example Jay Ferro, Clario CIO, as chair; Armistead Whitney, founder of Apptega; Jonathan Cox, CIO of Manhattan Associates) who advise portfolio companies on technology buying and go-to-market.
Stage Focus
Seed and Series A. Crunchbase-derived snippets describe Circadian as focusing on seed and Series A investments in early-stage tech companies. The site does not state a stage rule. No per-company round data is published on the site, so no stage is recorded against individual portfolio companies.
Check Size
Not published. Fund I was $17.1M (oversubscribed against a $15M target, announced February 2022) and invested across 13 portfolio companies, which implies an average first check near $1M or below. A Form D-based listing reports Circadian Ventures Fund II, LP raising $10.2M (filing dated July 2025). Check size fields are left empty because they would be inference only.
Lead Tendency
Unknown. The firm co-invests with other funds (for example, a June 2026 seed in Intellectible is reported alongside Anorak Ventures, Capital Factory, Plug and Play and Techstars). Mike Dowdle holds board seats at Cloud Range Cyber, Cloverly, Coginiti, IRALOGIX, Pinwheel and Precog, which suggests Circadian often takes a meaningful early position, but the public record does not say whether it leads rounds.
Recent Activity
- Fund II is actively deploying. Current Fund II companies listed on the site: ShareWillow (fintech, New York), Vestible (sports fintech, Kansas City), a Fort Lauderdale healthcare IT company, VeroSkills (AI recruiting, Birmingham) and Intellectible (AI operating system for services businesses, Austin; seed in June 2026).
- Exits: Demand Driven Technologies (acquired by Algo, December 2025), Chattr (acquired by UKG, November 2025), Eletype (2021), Insightpool (2018) and CPO Commerce (acquired by United Stationers, now Staples, in 2014).
- Portfolio milestone: Hermeus, held through the Circadian syndicate, was reported in April 2026 to have reached a $1 billion valuation.
- Cloud Range, the Nashville cybersecurity company, announced a $5.6M cyber range project with MTSU and IBM.
Portfolio Highlights
Fund I: Precog, KetteQ, dataplor, Awe Inspired, Octane11, Coginiti, Cloud Range, Cloverly, Rent Ready, Pinwheel, Voxie and IRALOGIX. Syndicate: Hermeus, Flourish Software, Soundstripe, Brrr, iScribe, Apptega, Cellphire, RoadSync, Johnnie-O and Softwear Automation. The site claims 20+ portfolio companies, 35+ transactions and $350M+ raised by Circadian portfolio companies.
Team
- Mike Dowdle, Founding Partner: 25+ years as entrepreneur and investor. Co-founded CPO Commerce (acquired 2014 by United Stationers), founded an interactive agency acquired by iXL in 1997 and was on the iXL executive team through its 1999 IPO. Through Circadian Group he ran a syndicate that made 12 early-stage investments from 2016. Board of Venture Atlanta.
- Steve Hasty, Principal: Joined May 2020. Sources and diligences deals and supports operations and business development. Former KPMG innovation practice; Georgia BBA and Duke Fuqua MBA. Host of Atlanta Tech Connect.
Decision Process
Small partnership: a founding partner and a principal, backed by an advisory council. No investment committee structure is published.
Founder Preferences
Not stated as a rule. The portfolio skews toward founders building B2B software and data businesses, many outside Silicon Valley (Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, Birmingham, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Charlotte). The firm is closely tied to the Atlanta ecosystem through Venture Atlanta and Atlanta Tech Connect.
Geographic Focus
United States, with a clear Southeast and Atlanta center of gravity (office at 3423 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30305) and portfolio companies across the Southeast, Midwest, Texas, Colorado, California and the Northeast.
Gaps
The portfolio images for CompliantRx (healthcare IT, Fort Lauderdale), Awe Inspired and Pinwheel had unreadable captions, so they were not added from the logo wall; they are named in Mike Dowdle's board list and on the entrepreneurs page. The news page was blocked by a bot challenge.