Westlake Ventures

Westlake Ventures is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based investment firm founded in 2006. The firm is led and largely funded by Carl Treleaven, who serves as Principal, Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer and the registered agent on Florida corporate filings. Treleaven brings a deep operator background to investing, having spent nearly 20 years as CEO of Pharmagraphics, a multinational specialty packaging and label-printing company headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, and structures Westlake Ventures as a single-principal vehicle that co-invests alongside Florida angel groups, individual angel investors and selectively venture firms. Investment focus skews toward software and information technology, with additional activity in healthcare, biomedical and broader emerging-technology categories. Westlake principally backs development-stage companies based in Florida with innovative solutions to problems addressing large markets, although the portfolio also includes select non-Florida companies sourced through angel syndicates, and it generally invests as a co-investor. Across approximately 50 to 53 disclosed portfolio investments the firm has seen five acquisition exits, the most recent being teletherapy company TAO Connect, which was acquired by UpLift in March 2024. Public databases describe a wide nominal check-size range, but in practice individual ticket sizes are much smaller and reflective of seed and Series A angel-style co-investing. By pairing a seasoned operator's experience with co-investment alongside Florida angel networks, Westlake Ventures backs development-stage software, IT and healthcare founders, primarily in Florida, that target large markets with innovative solutions.