High Alpha Raises $35M to Create, Operate, and Fund Next Generation Enterprise Cloud Companies

INDIANAPOLIS, IN–(Marketwired – Jun 10, 2015) –

• High Alpha Is Led by Proven Tech Entrepreneurs Scott Dorsey, Mike Fitzgerald, Eric Tobias, and Kristian Andersen
• High Alpha Is Backed by Leading Venture Capital Firms Emergence Capital, Greenspring Associates, Hyde Park Venture Partners and Strategic Angel Investors

High Alpha announced today it has raised $35M to create, operate, and fund enterprise cloud companies. Midwest-based High Alpha is the first venture studio to explicitly unite company creation with venture funding in the enterprise cloud space.

High Alpha is comprised of High Alpha Studio and High Alpha Seed. High Alpha Studio creates, operates and supports new companies by providing a blend of services including: product development, sales and marketing, finance, brand and design, and talent development. High Alpha Seed invests in High Alpha Studio companies and other emerging enterprise cloud companies. The combination of High Alpha Studio and High Alpha Seed represents a new model for entrepreneurship that seeks to help companies reduce friction, increase velocity, and achieve enterprise scale.

“High Alpha introduces a new model for building and funding next generation enterprise tech companies, and we believe the High Alpha team is uniquely equipped to pioneer this approach,” commented Scott Dorsey, Managing Partner of High Alpha.

Partners of High Alpha include: Scott Dorsey, former Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of ExactTarget (sold to Salesforce.com for $2.5B); Mike Fitzgerald, former EVP Corporate Development at ExactTarget and Co-Founder of Gravity Ventures; Eric Tobias, Founder and CEO of iGoDigital (sold to ExactTarget); and Kristian Andersen, Founder of Studio Science and Co-Founder of Gravity Ventures. The four partners have significant operational experience, having started and scaled more than 10 enterprise cloud companies. High Alpha is backed by West Coast-based Emergence Capital, an early investor in Salesforce.com, Box, Yammer and Veeva, East Coast-based Greenspring Associates, an early investor in ExactTarget, Midwest-based Hyde Park Venture Partners and strategic angel investors.

The High Alpha Studio portfolio includes several companies co-founded by High Alpha Partners: TinderBox, Lesson.ly and Visible with further announcements forthcoming.

“I am excited to partner with Mike, Kristian, Eric and leading software investors like Emergence Capital, Greenspring Associates, Hyde Park Venture Partners and many strategic angels to create, operate and fund next generation enterprise cloud companies,” said Scott Dorsey, Managing Partner of High Alpha. “High Alpha combines company creation with the early stage capital, expertise and resources needed to build high velocity software companies. We look forward to building great companies and making a huge impact on our community.”

“At Emergence Capital, we have been focused on enterprise cloud software since our first investment in Salesforce.com back in 2003, and we have seen incredible growth in this sector over the last decade,” said Gordon Ritter, Co-founder and General Partner at Emergence Capital. “There has never been a more exciting time to create new applications for business users, and we are thrilled to work with the High Alpha team to identify and build solutions that will change how people work.”

“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with such an incredible team that has so much experience building high-growth enterprise cloud companies,” said Jim Lim, Managing General Partner at Greenspring Associates. “We have worked with several High Alpha team members in the past as an early investor in ExactTarget. We look forward to partnering with members of the team again to create strong new companies focused on important needs in the market today.” 

“Indianapolis is quickly becoming an epicenter of innovation and is producing some of America’s most promising high growth tech companies,” said Tim Kopp, Managing Director for Hyde Park Venture Partners Indianapolis. “With its incredible base of experienced talent, competitive cost structure, and supportive state and local governments, the Midwest is a great environment to build and grow the next generation of market leading companies. We’re excited that High Alpha is capitalizing on these elements and is setting roots right here in the Midwest.”

About High Alpha
High Alpha, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a venture studio focused on conceiving, launching, and scaling next generation enterprise cloud companies. For more information: www.highalpha.com or on twitter at @highalpha.

About Emergence Capital
Emergence Capital Partners, based in San Mateo, Calif., is the leading venture capital firm focused on early and growth-stage enterprise cloud companies. Its mission is to invest in the cloud visionaries who are building the most important business applications. The firm’s investments include companies such as Salesforce.com (CRM), SuccessFactors (SFSF, acquired by SAP), Veeva Systems (VEEV), Yammer (acquired by Microsoft), Box (BOX), and Lithium. More information on Emergence Capital can be found at www.emcap.com.

About Greenspring Associates
Established in 2000, Greenspring Associates provides venture capital solutions to a diverse group of institutions and individuals worldwide. Through a synergistic platform, Greenspring Associates invests in established and emerging venture capital fund managers, in growth stage venture-backed companies and in secondary investments in venture capital funds and companies. Greenspring Associates currently manages over $3.1 billion in assets across multiple venture capital centric investment strategies. For more information on Greenspring Associates, visit www.greenspringassociates.com.

About Hyde Park Venture Partners
Hyde Park Venture Partners (HPVP) is an early stage venture fund focused on high growth software startups across the Midwest. With offices in Chicago and Indianapolis and a network of deal sources and advisors throughout the Midwest, the firm invests in startups with $500,000 to $3 million in revenue, raising their first institutional round of capital. HPVP is ranked a top 5 percent performing seed fund by Mattermark. Example investments include Ahalogy, Geofeeedia and Farmlogs. The investing team is a combination of experienced operators, strategists and investors that help HPVP’s portfolio companies scale with a strong network of talent and go-to-market experience. Follow HPVP @hydeparkvp.