Bajan launches US$25m VC fund

A Barbadian entrepreneur and finance expert based in the United States (US) has launched a venture capital (VC) fund to raise US$25 million for investment in “disruptive and market-transforming technologies”.

Floyd H. Griffith, the founder and managing partner of LBP Ventures, who is “committed to promoting and facilitating the establishment and expansion of business on the island”, believes his homeland “has the potential to become an attractive Caribbean destination for VC investment”.

The entrepreneur lives in Houston, Texas and has worked as an adviser at some of the top investment firms in the United States (US), including Citi Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley) and Merrill Lynch, the wealth management division of the Bank of America.

He has maintained his strong links to Barbados, and especially to his beloved Speightstown, St Peter – hence the name of his first company Little Bristol Partners (LBP) and the second, LBP Ventures.

The former cricketer explained that he launched the latter VC firm in October “to be the lifeblood of innovation and technology entrepreneurship, providing funding, advice, and oversight to help innovators and founders of technologies to build meaningful, valuable, and enduring companies and to foster betterment in the world”.

LBP Ventures’ objective is to raise US$25 million which it will then invest preferably in “emerging and frontier technologies and digital innovations”.

“LBP Ventures’ recently-launched inaugural fund is a micro VC fund. Micro funds are generally between US$25 million and US$50 million, though at times they may be smaller or larger,” Griffith explained.

“Helping founders move from bootstrapping to institutional capital, the fund will primarily invest in the pre-seed and seed stages in companies with explosive growth potential.”

He elaborated: “LBP Ventures will be investing in emerging and frontier technologies and digital innovations, which are the latest and most cutting-edge advancements in various fields. The coveted and targeted technologies include artificial intelligence/machine learning, Blockchain, cleantech, digital assets, fintech, healthtech, and tokenisation.”

LBP Ventures evolved from LBP, which is a member of the National Venture Capital Association in the US. LBP was launched in 2021 as a VC firm “to be a resource to innovators and founders of technology companies”.

“Little Bristol Partners had an industry-agnostic, stage-specific focus. While primarily providing strategic and operational expertise to these technology companies, it became clear that the lack of funding was a main impediment to these companies’ progress,” Griffith shared.

“Addressing this void was one of the main impetuses for the formation of LBP Ventures and its VC fund.”

Griffith is a graduate of the Wharton School’s Executive Development Programme, an executive development programme at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

He has a Master of Business Administration in Finance from The Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s Business Administration from the School of Business and Industry at Florida A&M University.

The businessman is keen to use his knowledge and experience to help the development of business in Barbados, including VC investment.

“As a proud Barbadian, I am committed to promoting and facilitating the establishment and expansion of business on the island. In addition to this desire to serve in this unofficial capacity as a business attaché in the USA, I am excited about developing the human capital on the island,” he said.

His targets include “the establishment of a centre for entrepreneurship and innovation and the creation of a developmental programme for pre-teens and teens to engage in coding and stem activities”.

“Moreover, I am optimistic that several of my portfolio companies will benefit Barbados and the other islands in the Caribbean.”

Asked if he thought VC financing could be beneficial for Barbados, he responded: “According to the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, ‘venture capital is on the rise in Latin America, where startups are tapping new markets as technology spreads’. “I believe that Barbados, which is recognised by the United Nations as one of the 33 Latin American countries, has the potential to become an attractive Caribbean destination for VCc investment, and I think it starts with two requisites on the island – developing and nurturing human capital and stimulating and cultivating innovation.”

Griffith, whose business ventures have seen him pairing finance with technology, does not need convincing about the benefits of such a marriage, including artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML).

“AI and ML, which is a subset of AI, are emerging and frontier technologies that perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. LBP Ventures will fund, advise, and commercialise these AI/ML technologies that are shaping our future. LBP Ventures has several AI/ML investments under consideration for deployment of capital,” he noted.

He also pointed out that fintech, the intersection of finance and technology, “is leveraging AI to enhance financial management and to gain efficiencies in the areas of banking, payment systems, loans, and investments”.

“LBP Ventures is spearheading an investment in a fintech company that will use AI to help analyse a person’s financial data to provide personalised advice and actionable insights, to manage transactions, and to adjust a person’s financial strategy based on personal goals and market conditions,” he said.

“With fintech’s main goal to make financial services more accessible, affordable, and personalised, AI will continue to become a major tool in fraud detection.”

Griffith also has a view on the sustainability of the technology sector’s dominance in  US financial markets and elsewhere.

“The dominance of technology companies, despite their value and benefits to society, continues to be a global concern as these companies grow bigger and become more influential,” he said.

“The ‘magnificent seven’ – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla – which are the top seven technology companies in the USA, continue to dominate the financial markets, accounting for half of the S&P 500’s total gains in 2023, according to Morgan Stanley.”

“Knowing that these technology companies have had stellar double-digit performance in 2024, I believe that these big-tech companies will continue to drive returns for investors as they sustain their growth, whether through organic growth or via acquisitions, with no sign of a bubble on the horizon,” he added.

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