2026 Dealmakers of the Year Honorees
Presented By: CIBC
Shila Nieves Burney
Founder & Managing Partner
Zane VC
Shila is reshaping what venture capital looks like in the Southeast through a dual-entity model that pairs a nonprofit accelerator with an early-stage fund. Her Zane Access accelerator has graduated 100 companies in four years — with a 100% completion rate — generating $20 million in raised capital, $14 million in revenue, and more than 70 jobs. Fund I has projected, with standout returns including MDisrupt at 6x. Now raising a $20 million Fund II targeting women's health and longevity infrastructure, Shila is proving that investing upstream of traditional healthcare delivery generates both competitive returns and real community impact.
Beatrice Dixon
Founder, CEO & Chief Innovation Officer
The Honey Pot Company
Beatrice built The Honey Pot Company from a vision in 2012 into a plant-based feminine care brand generating $121 million in gross sales and distributed across more than 33,000 retail doors nationwide. In early 2024, she negotiated a $380 million acquisition by Compass Diversified — while retaining a significant minority stake and her role leading the company. Beatrice didn't just sell a brand; she secured both the wealth and the platform to keep driving its mission of democratizing wellness forward.
Barry Givens
Jewel Burks Solomon
Managing Partners
Collab Capital
Barry and Jewel co-founded Collab Capital on a straightforward premise: proximity to Black entrepreneurs is a competitive advantage, not a liability. In June 2025, they closed a $75 million Fund II — backed by Apple, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and the Leon Levine Foundation — bringing total AUM to $125 million. The portfolio spans economic mobility, healthcare access, and community infrastructure across the country — and their track record is making a clear case that closing the racial wealth gap and generating competitive returns are not competing goals.
Amanda Lucey
Partner, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Alloy
Amanda spent four decades building The Partnership into Atlanta's oldest privately held, full-service marketing and communications agency — and then made the strategic move to accelerate its future. In December 2025, she led the merger of The Partnership with Alloy, creating one of the top five largest independent agencies in the Southeast. The combined firm — with a 50% larger talent base and AI-powered data capabilities through the P360 platform — is built for national scale. Amanda now serves as Partner and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of the combined entity.
Colin Meadows
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
o15 Capital Partners
Colin launched o15 Capital Partners in 2022 with a thesis that undercapitalized companies in healthcare, education, and business services could deliver both strong returns and broad economic impact. In February 2025, he proved it — closing o15's inaugural fund at approximately $370 million, with total capital including co-investment vehicles approaching $400 million. The Atlanta-based, SBIC-licensed firm has already deployed more than 20% of commitments and supports over 1,200 jobs across its portfolio, establishing o15 as one of the most compelling debut vehicles in the Southeast's middle market.
Vincent Myles
Daniel Myles
Co-Founders
The Myles Companies
Vincent and Daniel Myles built their family-owned enterprise — Myles Wrecker Service, Myles Truck Repair, and Big Rig Body Shop — into one of the most respected commercial fleet service operators in the greater Atlanta region. In 2025, they guided the company through its acquisition by True North Fleet Services, a Garnett Station-backed national fleet platform. The deal marks a meaningful exit for a father-and-sons operation built from the ground up, and positions the Myles Companies for continued growth under national ownership.
Will Seippel
CEO
WorthPoint Corporation
Will spent nearly two decades building WorthPoint into the world's largest online resource for researching, valuing, and preserving antiques, art, and collectibles — a platform that now holds more than one billion archived prices and serves collectors and dealers across six continents. In February 2026, he closed the sale of WorthPoint to Waverock Software, a long-term capital partner focused on market-leading vertical software businesses, while remaining in his role as CEO. The deal positions WorthPoint to expand its data platform, develop new tools, and further scale pricing transparency across the global collectibles market.
Social Impact Investing Award
Jon Birdsong
David Cummings
Co-Founders
South Downtown
Jon Birdsong and David Cummings are technology entrepreneurs — not real estate developers. That distinction matters. In December 2023, the two acquired 16 acres of blighted, boarded-up storefronts on the south end of downtown Atlanta and set out to do what urban developers had largely passed over. Through their South Downtown project, they have revitalized a neglected corridor, creating new businesses, generating local jobs, and dramatically transforming one of the city's most overlooked blocks.
What makes their work stand out is the lens they brought to it. Birdsong and Cummings approached the project with an operator's mindset — focused on activation, community return, and long-term impact rather than speculative appreciation. They're not flipping a neighborhood; they're rebuilding one. For two tech founders, that's a different kind of deal — and arguably the most important one either has made.