Introduction: Welcome to Five & Thrive: a weekly podcast highlighting the Southeast’s most interesting news, entrepreneurs, and information of the week, all under 5 minutes. 

My name is Jon Birdsong and I’m with Atlanta Ventures. 

New Company Announcement: Today, Jeff Hilimire and an all star team are announcing their newest venture: Purpose Group. Purpose Group buys, holds, and grows purpose-driven businesses. Over the years, while leading Dragon Army as CEO, Jeff Hilimire has written several books focused on values based leadership styles and he’s applying these lessons and frameworks to the companies purchased. The types of businesses Purpose Group is looking to acquire include the following characteristics: enduringly profitable with a minimum $1M of EBITDA. Over ten years in business and within a 6-8 hour drive from Atlanta. We put a link to the new and fresh website in the show notes.  

New Product of the Week: Tip Top Proper Cocktails just released a new product that you can now find on Delta flights across the world: an espresso martini. In partnership with Counter Culture Coffee the espresso martini joins the Tip Top’s Old Fashioned, Bee’s Knees, Negroni and more as favorite selections for your next flight. We interviewed Neal Cohen last year on The Atlanta Story if you’re intrigued on learning more about the company’s origin story and more. 

Raise of the Week:  It was just announced yesterday in TechCrunch — Lavender has raised $13.2M led by Norwest Venture Partners. Will and Will, the co-founders presented their product in the more recent Atlanta Startup Convo if you want to see it live. Their product is an AI sales email coach. When sales reps write emails, Lavender’s software ensures the highest probability of replies by suggesting the best content and copy which increases sales cycles and closes more deals. Check out their free trial today.

This week it was announced, Charlotte based, 2U Laundry raised $20M led by Level 5 Capital Partners. Just over 18 months ago, 2U Laundry made a major shift when it began focusing on brick and mortar locations calling this product LaundroLabs. The strategic change is paying off. Hypepotamus covers the story well. Congrats on Alex and team as they expand LaundroLabs to new cities and gain new customers. 

Company Coming Up: This week it was announced Recess, a fast casual restaurant with two locations in Atlanta reached QSR Magazine Top 40/40 for 2023 of America’s Hottest Startup Fast Casuals. Erik Goranson is the CEO and Recess promises food that makes you feel good and I concur. They have several healthy grain bowls, salads, and green bowls. We love the concept of fast, healthy, casual in the Atlanta Ventures office and Recess is making major moves in the industry.  

Companies Worth Applying To: SoftGiving is hiring for several roles most notably influencer recruiters, an internal recruiter and trainer, and a junior data analyst. SoftGiving, headquartered in Atlanta, raises millions of dollars a year for charities across the country by hosting live events through Twitch by partnering with major influencers and activating fan base donations through their live engagements. I know that sounded like a lot, but imagine a Twitch influencer who has tens if not hundreds of thousands of fans who watch their live stream. Now overlay a charity fundraising event and voila, you have SoftGiving. Now SoftGiving is evolving their offering and providing this service for major brands to connect with an audience historically difficult to get in front of.  

One of Atlanta’s most active venture funds, Knoll Ventures, is hiring a Business Development Associate to increase their go-to-market motions including sourcing early stage venture opportunities, attending conferences, conduct market research and more. Andrew and Rich have been mainstays in the investing community for coming up on a decade and this will be a career enhancing position for whoever makes the cut and wants to make a significant impact on focused and nimble team. Check out the the LinkedIn Job Opening in the show notes. They are headquartered on Georgia Tech’s campus. 

Lastly, AdPipe out of Athens, Georgia is looking for a product designer. AdPipe turns all your static content into motion first videos. Customers including Aflac, Caterpillar, and Stephenson Equipment use AdPipe to turn their existing video library into motion-first, click catching content. Keep an eye on the AdPipe team as they gain more steam and evolve into a full scale motion-first marketing platform. Apply today if you’re a product designer looking for a dynamic product to work on. 

Annnnd that is five minutes!

Links discussed: 

🖊️ New Company: 

Purpose Group

🚀 New Product of the Week: 

Espresso Martini from Tip Top Proper Cocktails 

Tip Top on The Atlanta Story

⬆️ Company Coming Up: 

Recess

💸 Raise of the Week: 

Lavender raises $13.2M, see their ASC convo chat here,  2ULaundry

💼 Companies Worth Applying To: 

SoftGiving, Knoll Ventures, AdPipe

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