New early-stage capital firm includes RTP-based partner

February 10th, 2009

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Two successful entrepreneurs, one on the West Coast and the other based in the RTP, have started a new early stage capital fund called Freestyle Capital, according to PE Hub.

Dave Samuel, who is based in the RTP, and Josh Felser, who founded and sold two startups, are looking for fledgling companies that raise less than $5 million from investors and get sold in less than five years, San Francisco-based Felser told PE Hub.

He said that rather than looking for home runs, the new fund seeks to hit “triples and be better off for it.”

Both founders invested their own money in the firm. The size of fund is undisclosed.

Felser and Samuel founded Spinner.com in 1996 and sold the company to AOL for $320 million.

In 2003, they founded Grouper Networks, which Sony acquired in 2006 for $65 million.

Samuel also co-founded Brondell, which makes Swash, a high-end electronic toilet that so far has not caught on with U.S. buyers.

Freestyle has already made two investments, the PE Hub report says, in Get Satisfaction, a customer support firm, and a company that makes an online map-building platform for kids (the company’s name is undisclosed at this time).