ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Startups in the city’s Innovation District are getting a new line to Texas money. Capital Factory, the Austin startup investor, said Thursday it will base a member of its venture team at the ARK Innovation Center in St. Petersburg to hunt for promising technology companies across Florida.
The move comes with a broader deal. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and longtime Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper have signed on to Capital Factory’s All Access 2027 program as both investors and strategic partners. Under the arrangement, the investment and research teams will trade leads on young companies and run diligence together so promising founders reach all three networks sooner.
ARK runs the 45,000-square-foot center through spARK Labs, its early-stage incubator, which has support from the city and Pinellas County. Wood relocated ARK’s headquarters to St. Petersburg from New York in 2021. Companies in the spARK Labs portfolio will be able to tap into Capital Factory’s contacts in Austin, a web of over 1,000 angel investors and venture funds.
The three already share bets. Apptronik, the Austin humanoid robot maker, came into Capital Factory’s portfolio in 2017 and today counts the ARK Venture Fund among its backers. Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas genetic engineering firm, joined Capital Factory in 2021 after Draper had put early money into it.
The 2027 program will center on robotics and autonomy, space and energy, biotech and advanced manufacturing, including work with both business and defense uses. Capital Factory pointed to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, about 25 minutes from the center, as a draw. No other U.S. installation is home to two four-star combatant commands; MacDill houses both Central Command and Special Operations Command.
Draper founded Draper Associates in 1985 and has backed companies including Tesla, SpaceX, Skype and Coinbase. Capital Factory has worked with roughly 100 startups a year through All Access since 2017.
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