Brothers grab funding for movie industry startup

TAMPA -- A feature film data analytics and distribution services startup picked up seed money and a prominent local entrepreneur for support.

Plus, when Folio Holdings LLC launches in September, founders and brothers Lee Morrow and Travis Morrow not only will have their hands full picking up new clients, but they'll be back in school at Harvard University.

Tampa-based Atlantic Merchant Capital Investors LLC and La Ragazza & Associates invested an undisclosed sum into Folio, according to a release. The company, which also will be based in Tampa, will provide independent feature film producers services for global box office distribution development.

“Folio has developed a proprietary data analytics platform that will be extremely valuable to producers of independent films,” says Katie Martin, founder of La Ragazza, in a release. Those services could mitigate risks film distributors have when it comes to independent films, and could lead to more theatrical releases.

Lee Morrow will be CEO of the company, while Travis Morrow will hold the position of vice chairman. Also joining the board is Morten Middelfart, former chief technology officer of Danish-owned Targit Business Intelligence, which operates its American headquarters out of Tampa and Boston. Middelfart, himself based in the Tampa Bay area, left Targit last year to start the social media optimization company Social Quant.

Atlantic Merchant invests primarily in middle-market companies around the country. Its portfolio includes Middelfart's Social Quant, as well as First Home Bank, USAmericaBancorp and Ballast Point Ventures.

Travis Morrow is an incoming sophomore at Harvard with a focus on film, cinema and video studies, according to his profile on social media site LinkedIn. Lee Morrow started at Harvard in 2011, and has interned for the U.S. Congress, as well as worked on political campaigns for Massachusetts-area candidates.