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Cape Fear Ventures
Richard Stroupe runs Cape Fear Ventures, an early-stage firm investing in enterprise software, AI, defense, and space out of Wilmington, NC.
Cape Fear Ventures
Cape Fear Ventures was launched by Richard Stroupe, an entrepreneur who built and exited multiple ventures in technology, defense, and real estate before assembling a venture team around his operational playbook. Stroupe's academic resume — including a doctorate from Purdue and Harvard's Owner/President Management program — informs the firm's structured approach to early-stage mentorship. The firm operates from Wilmington, North Carolina, with venture partners located in the Washington, DC area and Norway. The portfolio targets pre-seed through Series A companies concentrated in five stated sectors. The firm's website identifies enterprise software, data science, artificial intelligence, defense technology, and space ventures as explicit conviction areas. Cape Fear Ventures deploys both capital and embedded operational support, with venture partner Justin Edelman leading technical diligence on AI and agentic engineering applications — a capability shaped by his work on the first ambient clinical AI pilot and its subsequent scaling at Microsoft. The firm's communications and narrative strategy is led by Thomas Hornall, a former UK Press Association journalist who applies newsroom research disciplines to deal sourcing and portfolio positioning. Specific portfolio company names remain undisclosed on public materials. As of mid-2026, the team comprises four publicly listed professionals, though additional operating or advisory capacity may exist beneath the surface. Venture partner Matt Gittleman provides a structural link to the Mid-Atlantic venture ecosystem through his role as a founding partner of VC in DC, an investor community connecting over 700 investors across 400-plus funds; he also serves as a director at Washington, DC-based family office venture fund JHH vc. The firm has not disclosed aggregate AUM or deployment totals. Richard Stroupe also operates the Elevate CEO Retreat and hosts The Amplified CEO Podcast, both of which double as top-of-funnel vehicles for founder relationship-building. Cape Fear Ventures differentiates itself through a distributed venture-partner model where each principal contributes a distinct functional edge — technical diligence (Edelman), regional deal flow and institutional connectivity (Gittleman), and narrative-driven market intelligence (Hornall) — rather than a generalist investment team. The absence of disclosed institutional LP structures or fund vehicles suggests the firm may operate on a deal-by-deal or discretionary capital basis, a posture common among founder-led venture practices that prioritize flexibility over asset-gathering. Stroupe's blend of operator experience, academic engagement, and founder-facing programming creates a sourcing model that competes for deal access through expertise signals rather than brand recognition.
General information
Firm type
Venture Capital
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Wilmington
Corporate office
Wilmington, NC, United States
Principals
Richard Stroupe
Founder / Managing Partner
Matt Gittleman
Venture Partner
Justin Edelman
Venture Partner
Thomas Hornall
Venture Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who leads investment decisions at Cape Fear Ventures?
Richard Stroupe serves as Founder and Managing Partner and is the firm's primary decision-maker. He brings more than two decades of serial entrepreneurship and operational leadership in technology, defense, and real estate. Venture partners Matt Gittleman, Justin Edelman, and Thomas Hornall support sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio management but Stroupe's central role suggests a concentrated investment committee structure.
How does Cape Fear Ventures source its deals?
The firm's sourcing model draws on multiple founder-facing surfaces. Richard Stroupe operates the Elevate CEO Retreat and hosts The Amplified CEO Podcast, both vehicles for identifying and attracting early-stage operators. Matt Gittleman's role as a founding partner of VC in DC connects the firm to over 700 investors across the Mid-Atlantic, while Thomas Hornall's journalistic research methods are applied to tracking sector narratives and discovering companies before they enter formal fundraising processes.
Does Cape Fear Ventures commit to funds or only invest directly?
Cape Fear Ventures describes its activity as direct early-stage investing, from pre-seed through Series A, in five core sectors. The firm's website and team bios make no mention of fund-of-funds commitments or LP positions in other venture firms. Venture partner Matt Gittleman maintains a separate director role at JHH vc, a DC-based family office venture fund, but this appears to be distinct from Cape Fear Ventures' investment activities.
What sectors does Cape Fear Ventures target, and are there any it explicitly avoids?
The firm focuses on enterprise software, data science and AI, defense technology, and space ventures. These five areas represent high-conviction exposure where the team claims deep domain expertise. Cape Fear Ventures does not publicly list sectors it avoids, though its absence from consumer internet, biotech, and hardware beyond defense and space signals a deliberate scope boundary.
Is Cape Fear Ventures structured as a single-family office or a traditional venture firm?
Cape Fear Ventures is registered as a private equity asset manager, not a family office. The firm has not disclosed a source of permanent capital or a single-family wealth origin. Its founder, Richard Stroupe, generated wealth through multiple entrepreneurial exits, and the firm invests in external startups rather than managing a single fortune, which aligns with a conventional venture capital manager structure rather than a family office model.
How does Cape Fear Ventures support portfolio companies beyond capital?
The firm embeds technical and operational support into its engagement model. Justin Edelman works hands-on with leadership teams on AI strategy, technical diligence, and agentic-engineering opportunity assessments. Thomas Hornall leads communications and market narrative development, helping founders translate domain expertise into public positioning. The firm describes this as bringing 'capital, cutting-edge technology strategies, operational expertise, and mentorship' to each investment.
Has Cape Fear Ventures disclosed its assets under management or fund size?
No. As of mid-2026, Cape Fear Ventures has not publicly disclosed AUM, deployment totals, or any specific fund size. Without a regulatory filing or press report to reference, the firm's aggregate capital base remains undisclosed, which is not uncommon among early-stage venture practices operating on discretionary or deal-by-deal capital.
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