Grotech changes name, focus

At the National Venture Capital Association annual meeting in April, Steve Fredrick and Don Rainey introduced themselves as general partners from Grotech Ventures, not Grotech Capital Group, which is what it has been known as for more than two decades.

The Vienna, Va.-based firm, founded in 1984 and which is considered one of the longest-established firms in the industry, made it official last week and changed its name to Grotech Ventures as part of the firm’s alignment towards a predominantly early stage tech focus.

The firm is no stranger to early stage tech companies. Fredrick says that the firm sees a lot of business plans from former executives of nearby AOL Time Warner. But a spokesman says that the firm will have the flexibility to initially invest as little as $500,000 and as much as $5 million in tech companies. The firm tends to focus investments in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

“Our recent changes allow us to attract the most promising companies in high growth technology markets,” says Managing Director and founder Frank Adams.

“We’re bringing flexible amounts of capital along with our hands-on team approach to the table to help our companies build valuable, sustainable businesses.” —Alastair Goldfisher