According to the release, High Alpha Studio “creates, operates and supports new companies by providing a blend of services including: product development, sales and marketing, finance, brand and design, and talent development.” Whereas High Alpha Seed “invests in High Alpha Studio companies and other emerging enterprise cloud companies.” High Alpha will be led by Scott Dorsey, Mike Fitzgerald, Eric Tobias, and Kristian Andersen, all of whom worked at, founded, or partnered with ExactTarget, which was later sold to SalesForce for $2.5B in 2013. Of the leading team, they have extensive backgrounds in the services and solutions that High Alpha are reportedly offering. Right out the gate High Alpha will be supporting three enterprise cloud service providers: TinderBox, Lesson.ly, and Visible. Each company has a representative on High Alpha’s initial leadership team. High Alpha is backed by venture capital firms Emergence Capital, Greenspring Associates, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Strategic Angel Investors. Of the ventures, two had previous relationship with the leaders of High Alpha. West Coast-based Emergence Capital was an early investor in Salesforce.com, Box, Yammer and Veeva; and East Coast-based Greenspring Associates were early investors in ExactTarget, Midwest-based Hyde Park Venture Partners and strategic angel investors. “Indianapolis is quickly becoming an epicenter of innovation and is producing some of America’s most promising high growth tech companies,” said Tim Kopp, Managing Director for Hyde Park Venture Partners Indianapolis. “With its incredible base of experienced talent, competitive cost structure, and supportive state and local governments, the Midwest is a great environment to build and grow the next generation of market leading companies. We’re excited that High Alpha is capitalizing on these elements and is setting roots right here in the Midwest.”
