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BIP Capital and Accelerant Venture Capital merge

BIP Capital has merged with Accelerant Venture Capital.

Paul Iaffaldano, founder and managing partner of Accelerant, will join BIP Capital as managing director and will help lead the growth of the firm's venture technology companies.
 
Mark Buffington, who previously held the managing director title, has been promoted to CEO.
 
BIP Capital has raised four funds and invested nearly USD200 million since its founding a decade ago, with almost 80 per cent of its current investments based in Georgia and the metro Atlanta area. Its portfolio spans more than 25 early-stage and growth companies, including such local names as AchieveIt, Ingenious Med, PlayOn! Sports, QA Symphony and Vendormate.
 
With over 30 years of experience building the value of market-leading companies, Iaffaldano's successful exits include Blinq Media, BrightWhistle and SeniorLiving.net. His career also includes executive positions at The Weather Channel Companies, The Travel Channel, Walt Disney Company and others.
 
Accelerant operated a USD25 million early-stage fund that will now move under BIP Capital's helm. Iaffaldano has made 24 investments over the last eight years.
 
"As BIP Capital continues to grow in scale, both in terms of dollars entrusted to us and in the number of portfolio companies, we had a real need to grow our team," says Buffington. "Paul is a highly successful investor with significant experience growing and scaling businesses in many of the same spaces we invest in. Just as importantly, his approach to taking risk and helping portfolio companies scale is similar to ours – he's the right fit within our group. We look forward to broadening our bandwidth through his leadership and expertise in order to grow even more thriving companies."
 
"When I was first building Accelerant eight years ago, I remember looking at other firms in the Southeast and realising that BIP Capital was the type of firm I wanted to be," says Iaffaldano. "I'm honoured to now be joining them as managing director. BIP Capital is one of the largest and most successful venture firms in the Southeast, and together we'll be able to achieve even stronger results across a greater number of investments than before."
 
Iaffaldano adds: "Picking the right company to invest in is only half the battle. The real success comes from taking a disciplined, systematic approach to help grow businesses faster. This concept is the ingredient that has driven the performance of both firms."

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