Nov 3, 2022 - Business

Bill Spruill has a new mission after $300M sale of his startup

Zachery Eanes

Just months after selling his Raleigh technology startup, Global Data Consortium, for $300 million, Bill Spruill is using his newfound wealth to invest in the Triangle's entrepreneurs of the future.

Driving the news: He's started a new family foundation called 2ndF, which will seek to boost the Triangle's startup ecosystem through angel investing, grants and mentorship.

2ndF — an abbreviation for Second Foundation as well as a reference to the science fiction novel by Isaac Asimov — will focus on boosting minority involvement in the local tech scene.

Why it matters: With the sale of Global Data Consortium, a provider of digital identity verification, Spruill became one of the most successful Black founders in the Triangle's history.

Spruill said he wants use his influence to ensure more people of color are leading tech companies and local startups in the region.

What they're saying: "We need to give others the opportunity to involve themselves in (the Triangle's tech) community," he told Axios. "As a minority entrepreneur, when I looked around, there weren't reference models for me in this community for people who did or have done what I did in the case of GDC."

State of play: Spruill has already written $600,000 worth of checks to local companies and organizations, he told Axios.

That includes $100,000 for the Black Dollar Corp., an organization founded by Johnny Hackett Jr., which provides space and services to Black retail startups in downtown Raleigh.

The bottom line: Power brokers in the Triangle are often white males whose networks are often look the same. Spruill's success changed that, and will continue to do so for years to come.

Add Axios on Google

Bill Spruill has a new mission after $300M sale of his startup

More Raleigh stories