Nvidia, the semiconductor chipmaker that’s one of the world’s largest public companies, has acquired a software business that credits Chattanooga startup incubator Brickyard for much of its growth.
“Brickyard was the only investor that wanted to meet in person,” Nader Khalil, a co-founder of the San Francisco-based company Brev.dev Inc., said by phone. “They flew us out to Chattanooga … without knowing they’d make the investment. That’s how they do business.”
(READ MORE: Brickyard brings founders to Chattanooga)
Earlier this month, Nvidia acquired Brev.dev, with Khalil and his team now working inside of the chipmaker that’s seen as the biggest beneficiary of the surge in adoption of artificial intelligence applications.
Cam Doody, a Brickyard founder and its general partner, said the incubator and its fund in August 2021 made its original investment into Brev.dev. Later, Brickyard invested twice more for a total of $900,000, he said by phone.
“We believed in the founding team from day one,” he said. “We really loved the tempo of their execution.”
(READ MORE: Brickyard takes Doody back to trenches)
Doody said Brev.dev was the then-relatively new incubator’s fourth investment at the time. He said Brev.dev is Brickyard’s first exiting firm whereby the fund has sold its stake.
“It isn’t typical for a venture fund to have the first one in three years,” Doody said. “It’s exciting to have that as a notch on our belt.”
While the acquisition price Nvidia paid for Brev.dev wasn’t publicly disclosed, he called the amount “a life-changing sum … for the founders, and a good return for Brickyard.”
Khalil said he and his team came to love Chattanooga as they frequently visited Brickyard to build the business.
“The energy fit was amazing,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here today without Brickyard.”
Khalil recalled the Brev.dev team “pretty much” wouldn’t leave the site, noting Brickyard is crafted to allow 100-plus-hour work weeks.
“You’re wringing every second out of the day,” he said.
Brev.dev’s co-founder recalled Brickyard’s partners had just closed on the purchase of the property near East Main Street when his team first arrived in Chattanooga.
“It was a mess inside,” Khalil said. “It has blown my mind what they’ve done with the place and bringing in some of the best (company) founders in the world to Chattanooga.”
Doody said the Brev.dev experience is “a great validator” of Brickyard.
Today, he said, company teams coming to Brickyard are physically relocating to Chattanooga on average for 18 months.
Doody said Brickyard is investing in about 10 companies annually.
“In the next 10 years, we’ll have many more of these acquisitions, and we’ll make hundreds of investments in high-growth companies,” he said. “Many will stay full-time and put down roots.”
Doody and business partner Matt Patterson were co-founders of moving industry company Bellhop, launched in 2012 with funding and mentorship from Lamp Post Group, a startup incubator that was created by Chattanooga entrepreneurs Allan Davis, Barry Large and Ted Alling.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.