An Orlando-based fund has invested $100,000 in local tech firm GRD Biomechanics in a deal that closed June 4.
The investment is the first by the Orlando Opportunity Fund, launched in November 2019 to make investments in real estate projects and tech startups in federally-designated opportunity zones across Central Florida. While the fund has faced a setback due to the pandemic, its leaders see growing opportunity in its aftermath.
Funding growth
The investment will help GRD Biomechanics LLC launch a specialized knee brace that uses a spring system and sports a design compatible with 3-D-printed parts.
And GRD, which employs nine people, will expand its workforce this year, CEO Mike Geldart told OBJ, though he didn’t specify by how much. The three-year-old company produces the brace at a 4,000-square-foot facility in Daytona Beach.
The company landed on Orlando Opportunity Fund’s radar because GRD is a former participant in a program of Orlando-based accelerator StarterStudio, where Donna Mackenzie, Orlando Opportunity Fund chief financial officer, formerly served as executive director. The firm offered two things the fund looks for in potential investments: a strong founder and a disruptive technology, Mackenzie told OBJ.