Middle Tech Spotlight Series: Nick Durham on Investing in the Built World

How Shadow Ventures is supporting entrepreneurs building in the construction and real estate space

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Middle Tech
September 11, 2023

September 11th, 2023

Hey there! Logan here. Apologies for the lack of newsletters these past few weeks. We’ve been shifting some things around at Middle Tech and have made the decision to refocus our efforts on highlighting entrepreneurs building in this region, rather than covering tech news updates for our Monday episodes. We’ll still be covering relevant tech news on our social media channels, but since mine and Evan’s time is limited these days, we felt it was better spent on highlighting entrepreneurs. So let’s get into it!

In the Spotlight: Nick Durham

On this week’s episode, we sat down with Nick Durham, a partner at Shadow Ventures. Shadow Ventures focuses on investing in companies building technology for the “built world” (ie construction & real estate) and they recently established an office in Louisville, led by Nick.

Our conversation covered Shadow Venture’s investment thesis for investing in the built world, their approach to partnering with large firms in the construction & real estate space to give their portfolio companies access early customers, and Nick’s perspective on Kentucky’s startup ecosystem.

Key Takeaways

  1. Challenges and Opportunities in the Housing Market - Nick discusses the complexities of the housing market, particularly in the context of affordable housing and the rising cost of living.

  2. Due Diligence in Investing in Critical Infrastructure - Nick shares insights into the due diligence process when investing in companies that are building essential infrastructure and sheds light on the level of scrutiny and risk assessment involved in securing investment for businesses that have a broad societal impact.

  3. The Future of Housing and Social Responsibility - Nick estimates that 3 billion people will be without housing by 2030 and discusses Shadow Venture’s role in addressing this issue.

For more information about Shadow Ventures, you can visit their website at shadow.vc

ICYMI

Some of our favorite segments from recent Middle Tech episodes:

Have a great week! - The Middle Tech Team

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