Incubated from the mind and expertise of serial entrepreneur Nick Jordan, a new Durham-based venture studio aims to help startups “unbox” their full potential.
After four years spent building out the space and compiling resources, Unboxed Venture Studio will put Jordan’s and other ecosystem leaders’ time, resources, expertise and capital to use supporting budding startups in the area.
Having already amassed a portfolio worth over $20M and a network of strategic partners through his other venture, Smashing Boxes, Jordan wants to strive toward a goal of becoming the area’s first $1B venture studio.
“Hitting an arbitrary mark isn’t actually my purpose in life,” Jordan wrote in an email to GrepBeat. “However, in order to attract the type of resources our business and our ecosystem needs—specifically capital—I feel obligated to aim high and drive an amazing return to potential investors.”
With nearly 20 years of experience in the Triangle ecosystem, Jordan has noticed a trend that failing companies might not always have had the right execution, advisors, product market fit, etc. He’s also noticed that capital is the only thing some companies focus on to scale—but shouldn’t be. With this new venture studio, he hopes to combine all the assets a company needs while also creating a community built to support said companies.
“I thought about starting a fund but companies need a lot more than money,” Jordan said. “What they really need is the fuel. So, if I could provide the fuel, quality and teams that work together, I can take the risk. If I can just take risks out of a lot of different areas, then we’re going to give more companies a chance to have a high impact toward success.”
The venture studio model is a relatively new asset class, and Jordan knows he and his team will learn more about the space and what it can offer as time goes on. While Unboxed is not one of the first venture studios in this area, he does want its launch to celebrate a new and budding resource to get ideas to market.
The venture studio will be based out of the existing Smashing Boxes and Durham Bottling Company offices, which is owned by Jordan and which will ultimately be rebranded as DBCo for coworking space. The building also houses Durham eatery Krill and will later open a bar. But it is the building’s location, near downtown Durham and in close proximity to other local businesses, that Jordan sees as especially important for bringing local community ties to the ecosystem’s newest companies.
“I personally have a mission to think about and design the ecosystem that you want to see,” Jordan said. “Creating more awareness around it will uplift not just the studio, but also people thinking about or investing into studios, and seeing those as additional funnels of startups to potentially invest into.”
Jordan asks that any interested ecosystem partners and entrepreneurs in residence (EIRs) who have skills and services that startups need join the Unboxed network. He also asks that any investors interested in ongoing dealflow and access to de-risked venture scale businesses follow along with Unboxed’s progress and connect with Jordan himself.
“If we get more investors into our ecosystem or people who want to see the deals, that’s going to be extremely beneficial for entrepreneurs,” Jordan said. “There’s value in talking to everyone, so we need to start building more momentum and more of a center of gravity for these folks to orbit around.”
