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The JumpFund
The JumpFund is a Chattanooga-based venture firm backing female-led startups across the Southeast since 2013, with a portfolio of over 30 seed-stage...
The JumpFund
The JumpFund launched in 2013 when a group of women investors in Chattanooga, led by Managing Partner Kristina Montague, pooled capital to address a stark funding gap: less than 3% of venture dollars flowing to female founders. The firm operates as a for-profit fund organized around an impact thesis rather than a traditional family-office structure. Montague, alongside General Partners Cory Allison and Haley Dickson, built the vehicle as the Southeast's first gender-lens venture fund, raising two committed funds from a network of limited partners that includes other women investors and regional foundations. The fund makes seed and early-stage equity investments, writing checks typically between $50,000 and $250,000 into companies with at least one woman in a C-suite or founder role. Portfolio exposure spans B2B enterprise software, digital health, consumer brands, and AI-enabled platforms. Named investments from public record include Chattanooga-based Bellhops (a moving-services marketplace that has since scaled nationally), Nashville-based healthcare analytics firm InvisionHeart, and Atlanta's Partpic, an AI-native visual-recognition startup acquired by Amazon in 2016. The geographic mandate concentrates on the Southeastern corridor — Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas — with select deals reaching Texas and the Mid-Atlantic. The firm's second fund, JumpFund II, closed in 2019 with reported commitments that place total assets under management in the $10 million to $50 million range. The partnership operates lean, with three managing partners and a network of venture partners embedded in regional startup hubs. In early 2023, the firm participated in a syndicated seed round for a women's-health platform (public record), demonstrating continued deployment even as venture broadly contracted. The fund does not publicly disclose a formal philanthropic arm, but its investment committee includes principals who sit on nonprofit boards focused on entrepreneurship education in Tennessee. What separates The JumpFund architecturally from a generic micro-VC is the sourcing model: deal flow arrives through a network explicitly built by and for women operators, tapping university pipelines, female-founder pitch competitions, and referral relationships that male-dominated funds in the region rarely capture. The gender lens functions as both deal filter and competitive moat, giving the firm a proprietary view into cap tables that Southeastern generalist funds overlook. Succession is not disclosed, but Montague's operating role remains central after a decade of leading the partnership.
General information
Firm type
Private Equity
Year founded
2013
AUM
$10M - $50M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chattanooga
Corporate office
Chattanooga, TN, United States
Principals
Cory Allison
General Partner
Haley Dickson
General Partner
Kristina Montague
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What is The JumpFund's investment thesis?
The JumpFund invests capital exclusively in early-stage companies with at least one woman in a C-suite or founder role. The thesis is that gender-diverse leadership teams produce stronger financial performance, and that female founders in the Southeastern United States face a persistent capital gap that creates undervalued entry points for disciplined investors. The firm targets seed-stage deals across enterprise software, digital health, consumer, and AI-enabled sectors.
How does The JumpFund source its deals?
Deal flow is built through a network of regional female-founder communities, university entrepreneurship programs, and referral relationships cultivated by the firm's three managing partners. The JumpFund's specific gender-focused mandate gives them access to cap tables that Southeastern generalist funds often miss. Partners also source through pitch competitions and accelerators targeting women-led startups in Tennessee, Georgia, and the broader Southeast.
Who runs investment decisions at The JumpFund?
Managing Partner Kristina Montague leads the partnership alongside General Partners Cory Allison and Haley Dickson. Investment decisions are made through a committee process across the three principals, with venture partners providing domain expertise on a deal-by-deal basis. Montague has served as the fund's primary institutional face since its 2013 founding.
Does The JumpFund participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
The JumpFund has historically executed only direct equity investments into operating companies, writing seed and early-stage checks. There is no public record of the firm committing capital as a limited partner into other venture funds. The vehicle is structured as a for-profit investment fund, not as a multi-family office or fund-of-funds.
What is The JumpFund's known posture on co-investments?
The JumpFund routinely co-invests alongside other regional venture firms, angel networks, and occasionally larger coastal funds that enter Southeastern deals. Syndication is standard for the firm given its position as a seed-stage investor; public filings show co-investors in JumpFund portfolio companies have included Atlanta-based BIP Capital and other Southern-focused early-stage vehicles.
Is The JumpFund structured as a family office or a traditional venture firm?
The JumpFund is structured as a traditional venture capital firm with committed closed-end funds, not as a single-family office. Limited partners include a mix of individual accredited investors, other women investors, and regional foundations. The firm does not manage a single family's wealth or operate philanthropic alongside investment activities under one roof, though individual principals engage in nonprofit board work independently.
Which geographic regions does The JumpFund target?
The fund's mandate covers the Southeastern United States, with a concentration in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas. Select portfolio companies have been based in Texas and the Mid-Atlantic, but the partnership's network and sourcing remain strongest in the Southeast, where the gender-funding gap is most pronounced relative to coastal ecosystems.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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