Good Growth Capital invests in 3 more companies

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Charleston-based venture capital firm Good Growth Capital has invested in three more companies, firms involved in treating diseases, engaging alumni and crowdfunding for startups.

The latest investments bring the fund’s portfolio to seven companies since its launch last year. The company previously invested in Charleston firms Questis, PT On Demand, Dynepic and Interloop.

“We have had excellent deal flow since we closed our initial round of capital in late summer,” Good Growth Capital partner Maureen Stancik Boyce said in a news release. “We have a very strong management team bringing in a mix of companies and are very pleased with our portfolio so far. Now we will also be focusing on adding to our capital so we can continue to invest in the great companies we are seeing and have money available for follow-on rounds.”

Good Growth Capital wants to raise “$20 million after an initial close of several million dollars this summer,” the release said. The fund accepts investments from accredited individual investors and plans to secure larger investments from corporations and institutional investors.

Good Growth Capital focuses its investments on early stage technology companies. It has investors in Charleston, Raleigh, Washington, D.C. and Boston.  

The latest investments include:

Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc.: A second investment in Skyhawk Therapeutics Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based company  formerly known as Rare Genetix that focuses on the development of small-molecule therapeutics to correct RNA expression. It targets “diseases driven by a type of RNA mis-splicing called ‘exon skipping,’ where key regions on the RNA are left out during the RNA splicing process,” the release said. Skyhawk’s proprietary technology aims to reverse the mis-splicing and treat the disease.

Good Growth Capital — along with other investors including the Disney family, the Duke of Bedford, Alexandria Venture Investments and other undisclosed private investors —  invested $8 million into the company.

Good Growth Capital managing partner Amy Salzhauer said, “We are so impressed with Skyhawk’s patent portfolio and strategy and with the experience and dedication of the team. The company’s technology targets include both neurological conditions and previously ‘undruggable’ oncogenes in cancer, so we are hoping that it can have a really positive impact on people’s lives.”

QuadWrangle: An undisclosed first investment in QuadWrangle, an automated engagement platform focused on education. The platform is designed to make alumni engagement and fundraising easier through automated processes, personalized content and advanced artificial intelligence powered by IBM’s Watson. The firm has offices in Charleston and Boston.

Opendeal Inc.: An undisclosed investment in Opendeal Inc., which has the crowdfunding platform Republic. Republic uses “Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act to offer investments of as little as $10 in innovative startups curated by their team,” a news release said.

Good Growth Capital managing partner John Osborne said, “I have been involved in the crowdfunding industry since 2012 when the Jobs Act passed and consistently monitor how it’s evolving. Republic is addressing many of the market needs and operational pitfalls in innovative ways and is well-positioned to be a significant platform in this high-growth market.”