St. Petersburg investment firm Profluence is carving out a contrarian niche in a venture capital landscape currently dominated by artificial intelligence and enterprise software.
Founded by former Division I athletes, Profluence instead targets the convergence of sports, media, entertainment, health and performance. The firm, led by founding partner Andrew Petcash, is now raising a $50 million fund to back early-stage startups that support an offline economy.
“We wanted to build the next-stage version of an investment firm, and wanted to do it in the Tampa Bay, St. Pete area, which we feel like is an emerging hub,” Petcash told the Tampa Bay Reporter.
“We often call it the AI hedge or the anti-AI thesis, investing in the real world and real-world experiences.”
Petcash, a former captain for Boston University’s basketball team, exited his first sports media business in 2020. He and co-founder Scott Garber launched Profluence in 2023, and five of six team members have relocated to Tampa Bay.
The local firm now boasts a global, private network with over 1,100 vetted members, including tech founders, institutional investors and sports executives, who have collectively raised more than $117 million.
Profluence typically provides early-stage companies with a $1 million to $4 million capital infusion. In exchange, the firm targets a double-digit ownership stake.
Petcash and his colleagues are making a calculated bet that consumer fatigue and digital saturation will drive outsized returns for businesses operating in physical spaces and live formats. “Because of the media platform we’ve built and the community, we can drive a lot of value,” he said.
“Capital is one component, but it’s also how we can accelerate them (companies) through our own networks of distribution.”
Profluence’s multi-platform content and distribution channels have over 200,000 followers and subscribers. The firm’s website also touts more than 350 proprietary research and market intelligence reports that help identify emerging opportunities and inform decisions.
Fostering community is a priority, and anyone is welcome to join. Petcash noted that Profluence organized 20 in-person events last year and hosts over 50 virtual meet-ups annually.
The firm has built “the largest community across the sectors we invest in,” Petcash said. He believes those efforts build value and trust “long before you write a check and start really building.”
“The faster we can help them grow, the quicker we can return money to our investors, and the more valuable we are,” Petcash said of portfolio companies. “A lot of folks can just provide capital. For us, it’s capital plus the power of the Profluence ecosystem.”
He and his partners believe the traditional boundaries separating sports, media and live events are effectively obsolete. Profluence actively seeks startups that intersect with those industries.
Petcash pointed to the firm’s investment in The Hondo Rodeo Fest, which merges high-profile competition and musical acts, as a prime example of Profluence’s investment thesis.
Profluence employs a rigorous, three-pronged evaluation process to identify companies best positioned to benefit from its ecosystem. The methodology blends human intuition and high-level networking with algorithmic screening.
First, the partners rely on their expertise and collective instincts to filter initial prospects. They then leverage their professional network to solicit real-world feedback, often introducing a potential portfolio company to prospective clients before finalizing an investment.
Finally, the firm developed a tech platform to mitigate human bias. A custom-built database automatically categorizes incoming company data across various metrics to provide an objective baseline.
“And then the standard stuff, in terms of founders,” explained Petcash. “What’s their passion, what’s their ‘why?’ Where does their expertise lie? How gritty are they? Are they good stewards of capital? Ultimately, this comes down to the humans running it.”
Profluence is now targeting a $50 million vehicle and signed the round’s first deal last week. Petcash said the firm will continue innovating and growing in Tampa Bay; he called the burgeoning financial hub a “melting pot” of sports, entertainment, health and fitness companies.
He noted that “everyone wants to change the world” and is proud of Profluence’s impact. “It’s not always directly from us, but being able to pour capital into these projects and see a kid who watches his favorite country artists perform and then a rodeo for the first time … it’s really cool to play a small piece in that,” Petcash said.
“But also to be able to really bring people together and get people off their phones,” he added. “The human connection and impact of that has quite honestly been pretty addicting … It’s good motivation every day to keep rolling.”
