Florida Defense VC Firm Backswing Ventures Announces Fund II Has Surpassed 1.0x DPI in Under Three Years
By Space Coast Daily // June 7, 2026
The milestone puts the 2023 vintage fund well ahead of its peers, as industry data shows the vast majority of comparable funds have returned little to no capital to investors.
Backswing Ventures, the Florida-based defense and national security venture capital firm, announced Monday that its Fund II has surpassed 1.0x Distributed to Paid-In Capital (DPI) — meaning it has returned more capital to investors than was originally contributed — in slightly over three years from inception.
Fund II is a 2023 vintage fund, and the milestone places it in a differentiated position relative to the broader venture capital market. According to industry benchmarking data from Carta as of Q4 2025, 2023 vintage venture funds have generally produced limited realized liquidity to date, with the vast majority remaining well below 1.0x DPI. Carta data indicates that the 90th percentile DPI for 2023 vintage funds was approximately 0.06x — making Backswing’s achievement a notable outlier in the current venture environment.
In addition to surpassing 1.0x DPI, Fund II currently maintains a strong MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital), reflecting both realized liquidity and continued upside across the remaining portfolio.
The firm attributed the performance to a deliberate investment philosophy centered on capital efficiency and earlier-than-typical liquidity. While many venture firms remain structurally dependent on traditional liquidity pathways such as acquisitions or public offerings, Backswing has built an investment strategy designed to generate earlier liquidity through disciplined portfolio management and active participation in secondary markets, the company said in the announcement.
“Returning capital is not an afterthought for us — it is central to how we underwrite investments and manage portfolio positions,” said Kyle Asman, Managing Partner at Backswing Ventures. “Our objective is to compound investor capital efficiently while minimizing unnecessary duration risk.”
Backswing seeks to return invested capital to limited partners as quickly as commercially reasonable, reducing downside exposure and allowing LPs to recycle capital into new opportunities. The firm evaluates liquidity opportunities with discipline and consistency, pursuing partial or full exits when it believes risk-adjusted return potential has been substantially realized or when a new owner is better positioned to take a portfolio company to its next stage of growth.
Backswing Ventures focuses on early-stage companies operating in defense, national security, and adjacent technology sectors. The firm has been active in the Tampa Bay defense ecosystem, most recently leading a $3 million seed round for Orion Edge, a Tampa-based tactical electronic warfare company serving U.S. Army and Special Operations Command customers.
