Connexa capital, a Miami-based venture capital firm, closed its first venture fund with more than $20 million in commitments. This was well above its target. The firm invests early-stage technology firms.

Connexa was founded in 2022 by Jonathan Beda, a venture capitalist and former CEO and co-founder at Zumbini (a spin-off from Zumba Fitness). Beda founded and ran AB Investment Group (a predecessor to Connexa), which raised special purpose vehicles for companies like Home Chef (acquired Kroger), Halo Cars, Material Bank, and Terra Kaffe. In his early career, Beda was the head of special projects at Zumba. Pauline Chen is a principal. She was previously an investment banker.

Connexa already has five investments. FirmPilot, a startup from Miami, invested in the Series A round of funding announced this month. Proxima Kickfin Voila and Integrated Projects were also involved.

Connexa invests between $250K and $1 million in startups from seed stage up to Series B. They also plan to make follow-on investment. Beda’s Beda describes the firm’s strategy in this way:

“We believe that the optimal balance between risk and reward is at the inflection points beyond product-market fit, but before meaningful scale. Our process is designed for identifying early-stage companies that have clear signs of customer engagement, compelling unit economics and capital-efficient business model. We are former operators and we focus on the sustainability of a company’s growth strategy. We also place a high value on cash flow and profitability.

Connexa’s Executive Partner Network, consisting of 14 founders, operators, and investors, will support entrepreneurs. These members have experience leading global enterprises, startups, and companies such as Apple, Blumberg Capital and Goldman Sachs.

Alberto Perlman, Zumba’s co-founder and CEO, is a partner. “Connexa’s back-to basics investment approach is remarkably fresh. “They really get their hands dirty with their portfolio companies, and the team leverages their extensive collective network to assist them in achieving profitability and scale,” Perlman stated.

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