J. Heath Huggins is a Special Faculty member at Appalachian State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE), Series 79, Series 82, Series 63, and pending Series 65 securities qualifications. He earned his MBA from Appalachian State University, a Master of Accountancy from Gardner-Webb University, a B.S. in Business Administration from Western Carolina University, and a Master of Fintech and Analytics from Wake Forest University.
Professionally, Huggins serves as Vice President of CSD Ventures, where he leads venture investment and corporate development activities. His work includes investment strategy, capital formation, financial analysis and valuation, due diligence, transaction structuring, portfolio management, and mergers and acquisitions. He works closely with founders and management teams across various stages of growth, evaluating investment opportunities and supporting strategies for growth, financing, value creation, and liquidity.
Huggins is also the founder of Heathstone Capital, an investment banking and capital advisory firm focused on private capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic financial advisory. Securities activities are conducted through Finalis Securities LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, where he is a Registered Representative. In addition, he owns Huggins CPA, PLLC, providing accounting, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to businesses and individuals.
Huggins brings this combination of academic training and practical experience in accounting, corporate finance, venture capital, investment banking, entrepreneurship, and financial technology into the classroom, with an emphasis on connecting business theory to real-world decision-making.
Title: Special Faculty
Department: Department of Computer Information Systems
Email address: Email me