15 years ago, FarShore Partners formed as a one-of-a-kind technology and application software development shop; a “led local, built global” agency that focused on building lasting partnerships as much as building scalable products for its clients. Since then FarShore has been crafting world-renowned web, mobile and IoT applications which have generated billions of dollars in revenue and changed the entire landscape of the marketplaces they are in. FarShore is proud to have built lasting partnerships with some of the largest enterprise brands in the world across numerous consumer good categories, manufacturing, hospitality, and healthcare; but it has been its consistent effectiveness working with entrepreneurs that has propelled it into a league of its own in the software agency space. It was through these early-stage venture partnerships that FarShore’s sister company, Dashfire, was launched.
While FarShore handles the technology planning and execution for all of its partners, Dashfire can be called in to lead an advisory and investment relationship with the venture as well. Engaging with both FarShore and Dashfire allows us to impact our startup partners not only from a product development point of view, but also from an advisory and financial standpoint as well. Through Dashfire, we enable entrepreneurs to build their visions by acting as a strategic partner who can guide them through the many pitfalls of early-stage startup life and give direct insights and support into every facet of their business –such as fundraising, go-to-market strategy, marketing, operations and even exit/acquisition planning. Dashfire can also be brought in where there is a desire to have FarShore act in a more long-term and formal technical leadership capacity (i.e. fractional CTO, Head of Engineering, Technical Product Lead etc.)
In addition to the value of the guidance offered as the venture is built out and scaled, Dashfire can also help impact the capital planning process by participating in the funding of the venture as well. While the terms can be executed in several ways, this is mostly accomplished via a synthetic investment from discounting the services requested from FarShore. Since launching 10+years ago Dashfire is proud to not only have been one of the very first companies in the world to offer this model to its partners, but also to have had industry-leading results in terms of portfolio valuation growth and returns based on exits. Of the 250+ startups that we have partnered with over the years, over 50 now have been selected and joined the Dashfire group. While the performance of these startups is held private, we are proud to say that we have had numerous key exits over the years and the outlook for the remainder of our investments is even stronger!
Dashfire V (our fifth portfolio fund) is in the process of onboarding its final ventures and that means we will soon be announcing the launch of our sixth round (Dashfire X)–which will incorporate even more ventures into our portfolio and extend the mentor/advisory network further with more subject matter experts so we can continue to cover as much ground while helping founders extend their ventures to new and exciting heights. If you’d like to submit and explore becoming a part of Dashfire’s next round, or just want to learn more, please reach out and one of our team members will contact you.
JC Garrett serves as the Chief Executive Officer for FarShore and is the primary startup mentor for its investment and advisory arm, Dashfire. He started with FarShore in its early stages over 10 years ago and has worked closely with hundreds of startups to be a strategic leader in their tech and business planning processes. While software development is FarShore’s business, JC always looks at tech with the end goal of creating profitable and sustainable ventures that can raise money, scale operations and grow revenue. Before joining FarShore/Dashfire and after completing his MBA with dual concentrations in Entrepreneurial Management and Marketing, he joined a B2B SaaS startup overseeing Strategy, Marketing and Operations while advising dozens of startups to help them successfully plan and capitalize their ventures. He also currently serves as a coach for several startup accelerators/incubators, is a frequent guest lecturer, speaker and workshop host in the technology and startup community as well as being the co-host of the soon to launch “Mentor Musings” podcast series.
