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Ashton Hudson is a 1997 graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law and is a partner in Rock Creek Capital, a $100 million venture capital fund based in Jacksonville, Florida. Prior to joining Rock Creek, Ashton practiced with the Atlanta law firm of Parker, Hudson, Rainer & Dobbs LLP. His practice experience includes securities law, corporate finance, acquisition financing, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate law. Ashton currently sits on the Board of Directors of several privately held companies. |
About Rock Creek Capital
Rock Creek Capital is a private investment and advisory firm headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. We invest across a broad range of industries, including information technology, e-commerce, and financial and business services.
Rock Creek seeks to build lasting, mutually rewarding relationships with highly motivated entrepreneurs. We are typically the lead institutional investor and play an active role in developing corporate strategy, strategic alliances and management teams in addition to arranging for financing and liquidity events. We focus its investment activities in the Southeastern United States, but also invest outside of the region if the opportunity is compelling and there is support from other strong local co-investors. The Rock Creek investment strategy is based on an active, value-added style of venture investing that aligns our interests with those of management, the board and the other major investors.
What We Look For
At Rock Creek, we look for promising companies with significant growth potential in revenue and earnings. We look for high-quality ideas and the commitment management makes to achieve ambitious, yet attainable, goals.
We are most comfortable with companies facing execution risk, and are less inclined to fund those entrepreneurs still validating a concept. Our investment range is typically from $1 million to $5 million, with an average deal falling between $2-3 million. On occasion, we will also do a seed round under $1 million. The majority of our initial investments come in the first or second rounds, with reserves held to participate in follow-on rounds. We are comfortable acting as lead investor or working in concert with other sources of capital.
Our Approach
Rock Creek’s approach to investigating new opportunities is very straightforward and is designed to enable us to provide definitive, timely responses to our prospective partners.
The process begins with an executive summary or full business plan provided by the entrepreneur outlining the investment opportunity. After several members of our investment team spend time to carefully review the document, we then make a first pass assessment as to our interest in the market, team, and product outlined. If we think the opportunity has promise, we schedule a face-to-face meeting with the entrepreneur to hear more about the plan. After hearing the pitch, we assemble our full team and decide whether we want to pursue the opportunity further. Whether the answer is yes or no, we do our best to report back to the company as quickly as possible.
If we decide to move ahead, our team will move into the due diligence phase, where we perform in-depth research on the company’s market, products, and personnel. This typically includes:
After we have completed this process, our team will collectively make a final investment decision. If we decide to proceed, we inform the company and move forward to close the necessary legal documentation in a timely and cost-effective manner. If we decide not to proceed, we give the entrepreneur real feedback on what we learned during our investigations and why we are declining to make an investment. It is our hope that entrepreneurs find talking with Rock Creek partners to be a worthwhile experience, regardless of the eventual outcome.Individual meetings with key executives and company personnel; Detailed review of financial statements and business models; Review of the company’s sales and marketing strategies; Conference calls with existing investors, customers and prospects; Detailed analysis the company’s competitors; Reference checks of key executives; Discussions with industry analysts and company references; and Discussions with existing investors.
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