Dave Neal has been a Venture Partner with Duke Capital Partners (DCP) since 2018. He is also a Co-Founder of Belhaven Biopharma. He has been a CEO, CFO, and General Counsel for early-stage companies since 1994.
In 2011, Dave joined Chris Heivly to create The Startup Factory (TSF), an accelerator-stage venture fund based in Durham. TSF made 35 investments from 2012-2015, focusing on lean startup methodologies and providing companies with “mentorship on steroids.”
Dave also served as Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 24 years. Dave earned his undergraduate and law degrees from UNC and an MBA from Stanford University.
1.) What is in your pockets?
The usual things including keys and cards, but the most interesting thing is a challenge coin that I received from The Honor Foundation in Virginia Beach. Chris Heivly and I have been teaching a class on starting your own business for the last decade to special forces members who are transitioning their skills to the civilian economy. The challenge coin is a reminder of the things that I’ve learned from working with exiting Navy Seals and Marine Raiders twice a year.
2.) What exciting thing has happened recently for you or your organization?
The venture capital industry has been in a challenging time for the last couple of years. What has been exciting for Duke Capital Partners is that we have continued to see an excellent deal flow of companies connected to the University. We have been able to invest in great companies in cutting-edge spaces such as AI and the use of AI in healthcare. For me, these companies are great opportunities for “forced learning.” We have a lot of scientific associates who can go in depth on the relevant technologies, but I have to study the technologies so I can understand them, and I enjoy that.
3.) What is your favorite coffee spot?
It’s hard to beat Namu on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard. It has great outdoor space, works for morning (as long as you don’t get there before 9am) or evening meetings and is right on my way to and from the office! Namu also has tasty Korean food if you’re hungry.
4.) What keeps you up at night?
Nothing keeps me up at night in a literal sense! But if you are asking what I think about most often, it’s how to help the Triangle area reach its full potential as an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The Triangle region has assets that are almost unparalleled in the U.S., starting with the presence of three Tier 1 research universities. We also have one of the most educated populations in the U.S. Despite those advantages, we have not yet fully developed sufficient local venture capital resources or as many experienced managers as needed to guide the startups created here to the kind of growth that helps companies reach their full potential.
5.) What is your favorite restaurant or happy hour?
For years, our favorite spot has been 411 West on W. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Every town needs a comfortable Italian eatery and 411 West fills that role in Chapel Hill.
6.) What is next for you or your organization?
At DCP, we are always looking to expand and enhance opportunities for our investor base. We already have three different vehicles for investment. We created a pre-seed and seed stage entity in early 2023 that has already done several deals since inception, including leading multiple rounds. We have a sidecar fund, and we operate our individual investment vehicle which traditionally focuses on larger round sizes.
Even with these three investment vehicles available to us, we continue to see additional prospects within the university’s ecosystem to provide opportunities to our investors. We are working on ways to address those opportunities.
