Stage and Sector
Early Stage
We have a preference for investing behind early stage companies. We believe that there is a gap in the market and a market in the gap for early stage growth financing. In a landscape of nearly 5.8M US firms, nearly 98 percent are early stage or small. These businesses drive over 50 percent of the US GDP.
There are countless hidden gems within this vast sea of small businesses but inefficiencies in finding or funding them. The inefficiency in early growth equity is fueled by poor information flows and the shift within venture and private equity toward larger funds and larger deals. Early stage funding in the private equity arena has dropped over the last five years from over 50 percent of all deals to less than one-third. This coupled with the decrease in SBA loans has made it increasingly difficult for even the most qualified early stage firms to capitalize their businesses for growth or liquidity.
Consumer and Media
Cue Ball invests in consumer and media businesses. The areas of consumer and media reflect the passion and backgrounds of the Cue Ball team coincident with an attractive market opportunity. Our interest in the consumer and media markets is broken down into four priority sub-segments: lifestyle brands & services, restaurants & specialty retail, information data services, and social media & commerce. The markets for these sub-segments are large and fueled by real underlying economic and demographic drivers – not just short-term fads.
