Black Dog Venture Partners

What Black Dog Venture Partners does

Black Dog Venture Partners is a privately held US business accelerator founded in 2011 and headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company operates a network-driven model that connects early-stage and growth-stage entrepreneurs with a curated base of 16,000 investors and 40,000 business partners through organized events, coaching, and business development services.

The firm's core products are the VC Fast Pitch event series, the Investors & Innovators exclusive networking events, and the Black Dog Music Partners vertical, which provides funding and business development support for music business and music tech companies. VC Fast Pitch functions as the flagship product, hosting structured five-minute startup pitches before panels of venture capitalists, angel investors, and accredited investors drawn from Silicon Valley, New York, and international markets. The company does not operate a proprietary technology platform; its core offering is event programming, relationship-based deal flow, and human-delivered advisory services.

Black Dog Venture Partners generates revenue through professional services including event participation fees, sales and marketing advisory, executive coaching, and business development engagements. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The company has facilitated more than $130 million in funding for entrepreneurs over 15 years of VC Fast Pitch events. The customer base consists of disruptive startup founders seeking capital, primarily in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic US, with secondary segments in investors (VCs, angels, accredited investors) and a developing life-sciences-women vertical through its 2026 partnership with the Life Science Women's Conference.

Name

Black Dog Venture Partners

Legal name

Black Dog Venture Partners

Website

https://blackdogventurepartners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Black Dog Venture Partners is a US business accelerator that runs VC Fast Pitch and Investors & Innovators events, connecting entrepreneurs with its network of 16,000 investors and 40,000 business partners. It also operates Black Dog Music Partners, serving music-tech ventures.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Accelerator Services

NAICS

Miscellaneous Intermediation (523910)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Investment Arms (FSANAHAF)

Keywords

• Venture capital consulting
• Business accelerator services
• Investor networking events
• Startup funding facilitation
• Executive coaching services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tempe

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Event-Based Services: Black Dog Venture Partners generates revenue through hosting VC Fast Pitch and Investors & Innovators events that connect entrepreneurs with investors. The company also provides business development, sales/marketing, and executive coaching services for disruptive companies. Revenue is derived from event participation fees, coaching services, and potentially success-based fees tied to funding facilitation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Black Dog Venture Partners is a business accelerator that provides access to funding through its network of 16,000 investors, business development through 40,000 business partners, and sales/marketing and executive coaching services for disruptive companies. Its core offerings center on organizing investor pitch events (VC Fast Pitch and Investors & Innovators) that connect entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, angel investors, and accredited investors, and on providing business development support for startup and growth-stage ventures.

Product overview

Black Dog Venture Partners is a business accelerator providing access to funding through its network of 16,000 investors, business development through 40,000 business partners, and sales/marketing and executive coaching services for disruptive companies. The company operates three core offerings: VC Fast Pitch (pitch events connecting entrepreneurs with investors), Investors & Innovators (exclusive events for private equity, angels, VCs, and family offices), and Black Dog Music Partners (specialized funding and business development for music industry ventures).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VC Fast Pitch: A pitch and networking event connecting entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, angels, and accredited investors from Silicon Valley, New York and throughout the world.
• Investors & Innovators
• Black Dog Music Partners

Products and services

• VC Fast Pitch A flagship pitch event series where startup founders deliver rapid five-minute pitches to investor panels, connecting entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, angels, and accredited investors from Silicon Valley, New York, and globally. The events are hosted in multiple U.S. cities and have facilitated more than $130 million in funding over 15 years.
• Investors & Innovators Exclusive events hosted by Scott Kelly that connect private equity investors, angels, VCs, family offices, and innovators for networking and curated deal flow. Targeted at investors seeking access to vetted startups and at founders seeking higher-tier investor connections.
• Black Dog Music Partners A wholly-owned subsidiary of Black Dog Venture Partners providing funding, business development, sales, and marketing services specifically for music businesses and music technology companies. Targets music industry and music tech ventures seeking capital and go-to-market support.

Quantifiable outcome

• $130M+ in funding facilitated for entrepreneurs over 15 years

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Life Science Women's ConferencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026Black Dog Venture Partners and the Life Science Women's Conference announced a partnership to host the Tampa Bay VC Fast Pitch on September 14, 2026, at the University of South Florida. The event is part of the 2026 Life Science Women's Conference and will connect women entrepreneurs in life sciences with venture capitalists and angel investors.
• Idea VillagecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIdea Village presented the New Orleans VC Fast Pitch event hosted by Black Dog Venture Partners. Multiple startup founders delivered five-minute pitches to a panel of investors including former Saints player Marques Colston and representatives from Boot64 Ventures and StartUp Health.
• Fidelity Private SharesminorOthersTrusted partner providing cap table management services for Black Dog Venture Partners portfolio companies.
• StaxiomminorOthersTrusted partner providing R&D Tax Credits services for Black Dog Venture Partners clients.
• TrinetminorOthersTrusted partner providing HR and Benefits services for Black Dog Venture Partners.
• EmpowHERmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlack Dog Venture Partners supports EmpowHERment, an organization providing no-cost services and programs that support women's daily needs, foster connection, and create pathways to economic opportunity and long-term success.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Techstars is a global accelerator with cohort programs, mentor networks, and investor demo days — directly comparable to VC Fast Pitch as an accelerator-style deal flow platform, though at much larger scale and with its own fund economics.
• 500 Global (500 Startups): 500 Global runs accelerator programs and a global investor network analogous to VC Fast Pitch. Comparable because both serve early-stage founders seeking investor introductions and both monetize by intermediating capital into startups.

Direct peers

• AngelList: AngelList is a digital marketplace connecting founders with angels and VCs, including syndicate and rolling fund products. It overlaps with Black Dog's Investors & Innovators value proposition as an investor-discovery and deal-flow platform for startups.
• Capital Factory: Capital Factory operates as an accelerator and investor-matching hub in Texas, hosting pitch events and demo days for startups. Direct comparable to Black Dog's regional VC Fast Pitch model of curating investor panels and facilitating funding.
• Keiretsu Forum: Keiretsu Forum is a global angel investor network running pitch forums where entrepreneurs present to accredited investors — functionally identical to VC Fast Pitch's pitch event format.
• Idea Village: Idea Village is a New Orleans-based startup accelerator that has co-hosted the New Orleans VC Fast Pitch event. Directly comparable as a regional accelerator partnering with investor networks to facilitate startup funding.
• StartUp Health: StartUp Health is a global health-focused accelerator with a large investor network. It has appeared as an investor panelist at Black Dog's New Orleans VC Fast Pitch event and shares the vertical-verticalized investor-matching model.

Emerging players

• Gust (Startups.com): Gust operates a startup-investor matching platform and syndicate tools. While more software-led, it competes for the same founder-investor intermediation use case that Black Dog serves via in-person events.

Others

• Visible.vc: Visible.vc provides investor updates and pitch tools used by startups and the venture ecosystem to manage stakeholder communications. It is adjacent to Black Dog's ecosystem through its trusted partner stack and serving similar founder audiences.

Regional players

• Angel Capital Association: Angel Capital Association is the largest association of angel investors in North America, supporting angel groups and pitch forums. Comparable as an aggregator/membership body facilitating investor-deal flow connections for entrepreneurs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BlackDogCEO
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blackdogventurepartners
• Facebookfacebook.com/blackdogventurepartners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments7 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Black Dog Venture Partners