Bradley Arant Boult Cummings partner and chairman of the venture capital and private equity practice, James Childs, Jr., was quoted in the Birmingham Business Journal regarding the waning venture capital deals in Alabama. The decrease can be partially attributed to the changing economy; however, Childs explains that “Birmingham is home to several ‘non-traditional’ institutional investors, and our investment community has historically been quiet about their investment.” Childs pointed out another aspect of the seemingly absent venture capital funds, saying that “the volume of angel and strategic investment has grown steadily, and those deals do not get reported.” William Brooke, a managing partner and founder of Harbert Management Corp., concurred with Childs’ assessment, saying, “the good news for the market is there are more angels that are actively investing directly in deals, and they don’t have the same reporting horizon as the bigger, more institutional deals.”
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