Florida Funders (FLF) has named Rachael Ferm as its new Director of Investments, signaling the Tampa-based venture firm’s growing influence across Florida and the broader Southeast tech scene.
Known for its hybrid approach – combining a $300M+ venture platform with a network of more than 2,000 accredited investors – Ferm’s addition brings deep experience from San Francisco and New York, and a clear thesis on how Florida’s momentum is reshaping the venture map.
“Florida (and Miami specifically) is already restructuring the venture map, growing through a flywheel of: 1) talent influx, including previously exited founders looking to build again; 2) real business advantages – significantly lower operating costs, gateways to new markets, and tax and regulatory appeal; and 3) an impressive and rapidly growing track record of great companies, born, bred, and scaled right here,” she in an interview with Refresh Miami. “FLF continues to benefit from the first-mover advantage we have established in this market.”
Ferm added that Miami’s connectivity plays a key role in portfolio construction. “The city’s close and continuous ties to the coasts provides exposure and connectivity to deals from these hubs, while also producing deals at more grounded valuations with greater room for upside as an early-stage fund,” said Ferm, who will be based in Miami.
Her arrival also reinforces FLF’s model of pairing institutional-grade investing with an active community of operators, founders, and family offices.
“They say there are really three venture capital strategies, and the best funds do all three: source better, pick better, and add value,” she asserted. “FLF’s network gives us a distinctive advantage for each strategy.”
On sourcing, Ferm explained, “Our network is composed of operators at some of the largest enterprises in each of our focus verticals. These individuals surface the tools driving step-changes in revenue, performance, and capability inside their businesses.”
Beyond enterprise reach, “The network also includes numerous multi-time founders and well-connected Family Offices – these individuals have access to some of the hardest ‘circles’ for outsiders to infiltrate. We benefit distinctly from the trust they have built and their access to deals.”
That collaboration continues through diligence. “We engage an average of 3 experts from our network into every single deal we look at seriously. They help us ask the right questions, faster, and help us earn allocation and negotiating power in competitive, oversubscribed deals.”
And it doesn’t stop at closing. “The network allows us to scale our value add – so many individuals from our network are customers, distributors and partners for our portfolio. They help the portfolio scale, go-to-market, and drive real top-line impact. Others step in as advisors or board members where their expertise matters most to founders.”
For Ferm, this built-in community was one of the biggest draws. “The power of a network like Florida Funders’ was one of my biggest draws to join the firm. I have been so happily surprised by just how robust, well managed, and involved this network is.”
Looking ahead, Ferm will focus on vertical software, cybersecurity, and AI orchestration: sectors she believes are reaching a turning point.
“We’re at a point where the marginal cost of compute and data-driven workflows is collapsing, and most large industries are finally digitized enough to integrate new technology and see real ROI,” she said.
“While early GenAI pilots have struggled, that’s exactly the opportunity now. The first wave exposed where integration and workflow fit were missing; the next is about solving those gaps and unlocking use cases that never made sense before or were stuck behind huge bottlenecks (and huge budgets).”
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