Gray Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Gray Ventures is a private investment company founded in 1991 by Bernard "Berny" Gray to support entrepreneurialism in the Southeast. Its current vehicle, Gray Ventures IV, launched in 2022, backs seasoned entrepreneurs building disruptive early-stage software solutions with clear competitive advantages, specifically B2B SaaS models serving IT, telecom, and other tech-enabled industries. The firm invests exclusively in the southeastern United States, reflecting a three-decade commitment to building the region's technology ecosystem. Earlier vehicles took a broader posture: Gray Ventures I and II backed 35 pre-revenue, first-time-founder companies across Atlanta and North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, while Gray Ventures III operated as a fund-of-funds supporting 25 early-stage Southeast venture funds across IT and Healthcare and was also the principal investor in Flashpoint, the Georgia Tech-affiliated accelerator that has since helped 80 startups.
Stage Focus
Gray Ventures IV concentrates on early-stage companies, primarily seed, with capacity for follow-on rounds into existing portfolio companies. The fund explicitly targets founders who are not first-timers but bring prior startup or operating experience, a deliberate shift from Funds I and II, where all 35 portfolio companies were founded by first-time entrepreneurs.
Check Size
Typical investment range is $500K-$3M per company, generally for a minority stake, frequently paired with a board seat.
Lead Tendency
The firm invests both as a lead/direct investor and as a syndicate participant alongside other institutional investors. It appears as the primary investor behind NuTEQ Solutions (GOCare) and as a named co-investor in Opine's $5M seed round, which was led by S3 Ventures (announced December 2025).
Recent Activity
Fund IV is actively deploying. Confirmed activity includes participation in Opine's $5M seed round (announced December 2025) for the AI-native B2B technical-sales workspace, alongside lead investor S3 Ventures. Portfolio company Fastbreak AI, an AI-driven sports operations and scheduling platform used by leagues including the NBA, NHL, and SEC, raised a $40M Series A led by Greycroft and GTMfund in November 2025. Portfolio company Worth (Worth AI), an AI-powered SMB onboarding and underwriting platform for fintechs and lenders, raised $30M in a round reported in March 2026.
Portfolio Highlights
Across more than three decades, Gray Ventures has backed roughly 130 companies with dozens of exits, including unicorns Pendo.io and Greenlight, plus notable outcomes at Shipt (acquired by Target), BitPay, SmartAsset, Red Canary, Pindrop, MacStadium, ShopKeep, Featurespace, and Ionic Security (acquired by Cisco). The current Gray Ventures IV portfolio spans NuTEQ Solutions (broadband/telecom customer-engagement SaaS, product GOCare), Simnovus (5G/LTE/IoT telecom network testing), Intellectible (AI-powered proposal and RFP workflow software for GovCon and enterprise teams), Illoominus (people analytics and workforce-planning software for HR teams), QuantHub (AI and data-literacy training for K-16 and corporate markets), PitchIt (lead qualification service), Fastbreak AI (AI-powered sports operations and scheduling software for pro and amateur leagues), Worth AI (AI-powered SMB onboarding and underwriting for fintechs and lenders), Lab Logs (laboratory compliance and equipment-maintenance documentation software), Authentrics.ai (AI/ML operations and neural-network model-management software), Vitelis (AI-driven value-creation and EBITDA-improvement platform), ShelfCycle (AI-native ERP and financial software for chemical distributors), and Opine (AI-native workspace for technical B2B sales teams).
Team
- Bernard "Berny" Gray, Founder & President - Founded Gray Ventures in 1991 after 15 years with Summit Communications Group (radio, cable, and communications properties, sold to Time Warner), where he retired as Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill undergraduate, U.S. Marine Corps veteran (Vietnam), Columbia Business School MBA. Has served on the boards of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (Research Triangle Park), the Southern Capital Forum (Atlanta), and the Lang Entrepreneurial Center and Fund (NYC); co-founded the Southeast Investor Group.
- Alex Gray, Vice President - Handles sourcing, evaluation, due diligence, negotiation, and portfolio monitoring/advising across Gray Ventures' portfolio. Began his career at MicroStrategy and its then-subsidiary Angel.com (a cloud IVR provider acquired by Genesys in 2013). University of Virginia School of Law JD (Virginia Law Review, Journal of Law & Politics, Innocence Project); clerked for two federal judges before joining King & Spalding, where he represented Fortune 100 companies in corporate transactions and disputes.
Decision Process
Gray Ventures is a small, family-led team - Bernard and Alex Gray operate closer to a two-person partnership than a formal investment committee, jointly handling sourcing through portfolio monitoring.
Founder Preferences
Gray Ventures IV prefers seasoned, repeat entrepreneurs with prior startup or relevant operating experience building B2B SaaS with clear competitive advantages in IT, telecom, or other tech-enabled verticals, explicitly moving away from the first-time-founder profile of its earliest funds. It does not back consumer-facing companies or companies outside the Southeast.
Geographic Focus
Exclusively the southeastern United States, with historical concentration in Atlanta, Georgia (firm headquarters) and North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.