Wednesday, June 11, 2014 An Interview with: Michael Bolick, Selah Genomics CEO
It is fair to say Selah Genomics CEO, Michael Bolick, knows a thing or two about angel investment. As a serial entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in the life science and healthcare industries, Bolick
Tags: Protect Angel Funding Monday, June 09, 2014 By: Bill Payne, Vegas Valley Angels and Frontier Angels This blog post originally appeared on Berkonomics.com The sale of equity in private companies is regulated by the Securities Act of 1933, which requires that the company either register with the SEC or meet one of several exemptions (Regulation D). A Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) is a special business plan defined to meet an SEC exemption. In most cases, those entrepreneurs choosing to raise capital using PPMs retain specialists (many of whom are lawyers) to write their PPMs – a rather expensive undertaking. I don’t fund new companies that have prepared PPMs for investment. I am an angel investor, that is, an accredited investor who is assumed by the SEC and others to be sufficiently wealthy to afford to lose the investment and supposedly experienced enough to make good choices on fundable companies. Angels, as group of accredited investors funding startup companies, are assumed to meet a Regulation D exemption for purchasing equity in private companies. Like most angel investors, I have preferences for the terms and conditions of investment and intend to negotiate with entrepreneurs on those terms, such as valuation, company structure, the makeup of the board of directors, liquidation preferences and others. I have yet to read a PPM written for a startup company that meets the parameters we angels generally establish for funding new ventures. Tags: Friday, June 06, 2014 By: Matt Dunbar, ACA Board and Upstate Carolina Angel Network
In recent weeks in the Upstate Business Journal, several exciting local startups have made the news for their significant national and international successes: The Iron Yard expanding its code school to cities across the Southeast; KIYATEC winning a rare grant from the National Cancer Institute and being featured at the upcoming BIO International Convention; and Selah Genomics realizing a highly lucrative acquisition by a European
diagnostics company.
Tags: Protect Angel Funding Friday, May 30, 2014
By David Verrill, ACA Chairman and Managing Director, Hub Investment Group
Tags: Protect Angel Funding Wednesday, May 21, 2014
An Interview With: Li Han Chan, DynaOptics
Tell us about your business: DynaOptics was founded in 2012. We currently have seven full time employees and offices in Sunnyvale, CA and Singapore. We’re a miniature optics company bringing to market an optical zoom system housed entirely within the slim profile of today's mobile phones. Our technology is able to achieve the performance and manufacturability of today's lens systems, without its bulky footprint.
1. Financially – the investment enabled the commercialization of an extremely innovative, high-potential technology. We have utilized the financial resources made available by the Angels to hire full-time engineers dedicated to solving the problems that come with employing this technology in a mass-market product. The resources have also allowed us to actively engage customers to ensure we were solving their critical pain points. Tags: Tuesday, May 20, 2014
In case you haven’t heard, the SEC will revisit the definition of accredited investor soon and there is a possibility the financial thresholds could be raised so much that 60 percent of all accredited angel investors would no longer qualify to make angel investments. If this happened, this would have a huge impact on the high-growth startups that create the majority of jobs and innovations in this country.
Tags: Economy Monday, May 19, 2014 By: Sarah Dickey, ACA Membership Director
Congratulations Upstate Carolina Angel Network on an 11X Exit with Selah Genomics!
Tags: Monday, May 12, 2014
Meet ACA Member Katherine O’Neill - ACA Board Member and New Jersey Angel Network Executive Director
Tags: Monday, May 05, 2014 By: Sarah Dickey, ACA Membership Director 2014 has been a year of growth for ACA. Over the past year ACA has focused on growing its footprint as the early-stage investment landscape has evolved. ACA members now include accredited platforms and individual angels, in addition to angel groups. We are pleased to share with you the new ACA members. More than 12,000 active accredited investors now below to ACA - the most ever and making ACA the largest angel organization in the world. So far this year ACA has welcomed 30 new member groups across our long standing membership categories including Provisional Members (angel groups just being formed but not yet active), Full Members (active angel groups), and Affiliates (organizations that promote the growth of the angel investing field). Representing 18 US states and one Canadian province, these new members are growing active capital in their communities to support innovative companies. A key part of ACA's growth is new member categories: accredited platforms, equity marketplaces focused on accredited investors, and individual investors. Eleven accredited platforms have joined ACA this year. AngelList, FundersClub, and SeedInvest were the first three and now many new organizations are forming and joining. Individuals who are not connected to angel groups are also new to ACA and we are happy that these angels from 18 US states and one Canadian province are now members. For their privacy, we are not sharing their names and contact information. Tags: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 By: Marianne Hudson, ACA Executive Director We have good news. Several ACA members have asked about the "1202" exemption that expired December 31, 2013. The Senate Finance Committee approved the 100% exemption of gains in investments in qualified small businesses earlier this month as part of its "tax extenders" bill. We have even better news - the extension is for two years and would be retroactive to January 1, 2014. We’re looking out for you. The Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act still needs to be approved by the Senate and House, but it appears to have bi-partisan support. More details on the bill are in the Senate Finance Committee website. For those of you who are not awar of this tax exemption, its formal name is Qualified Small Business Stock, and full IRS information is here. If you don't know about it, at least make sure that your accountant does! It can be a great tool to catalyze investment in job-creating startups and help our economy. Tags: |