Q4 is Coming Quickly - What Will You Accomplish?
Angel Gambino
M&A & Capital Formation | Fractional CGO | Keynote Speaker | Board Member | Multi-Exited Entrepreneur | Angel Investor | Community Curator | Wellness & Mental Health Advocate
I'm getting into the swing of the new school year (dropoff looks a lot like this) while focused on projects and ventures that need to be finalized or launched before year’s end.
This week, I'm working on our Impact Accelerator: Women Founders cohort and am reaching out to angel investors, accelerators, and other pre-seed and seed investors who may want to meet these talented, early-stage startups. If that describes you or you know investors we should reach out to, please DM me or let us know in the comments.
This week I'm moderating Web 3 Ready (grab a free spot while you still can!) and I'm putting the final touches on a go-to-market plan for an exciting solution at AWS designed to support early-stage startups that I'm eager to share soon.
A fun and full Fall is underway!
💡THIS MONTH: Business Model Architecture
Each month, we focus on an early-stage startup topic and provide an in-depth editorial on that topic. This month’s topic is Business Model Architecture.
In addition to the problem you seek to solve or the opportunity you choose to pursue and the product or service you offer, one of your key decisions as a founder is what business model to employ — and there are several options to consider! This month, we’ve shared a high-level overview of business model architecture to consider when starting a new business so you can make the best decisions from the start. Read the article here.
📅 UPCOMING EVENTS
We are excited to share information about our innovative entrepreneurs and companies and the investment opportunities they represent. Our focus with SMV Fund I is on early-growth, Seed/A media technology companies. Several of our companies are presently raising additional funding, and we're extending the opportunity for accredited investors to join these projects. During this showcase, you will get to meet several founders and hear about the latest and greatest with each startup.
We invest in hilariously early startups.
We invest in pre-seed rounds. Not seed. Not post-seed / mango seed. Pre-seed.
We may occasionally invest as a follow-on investment into a Series A round in existing portfolio companies. However, our initial investments are at the pre-seed stage.
We were founders before we sold out and became VCs. So we know just how amazing and terrible startup life is. Our team brings real talk and real advice to our relationships.
This UNOFFICIAL YC Alumni Demo Day features companies who have graduated from YC - the 6 best startups raising the most competitive rounds.
You'll have the opportunity to invest with a check as small as $1,000 alongside top-tier co-investors.
This webinar will cover a wide range of topics related to investing in a healthcare startup and features an incredible member of the angel community, Dr. David Gershon.
Techstars Presents: Ukrainian founders building robust tech companies, all raising Late Seed -> Series A rounds
Register free for this one-day virtual event showcasing the exciting possibilities of employing new technologies like blockchain, NFT and Metaverse, and DeFi. We’ll share with you the range of ways that startups can leverage these systems on AWS. Glean valuable knowledge from VC investors, top founders, and technology experts to help forward-looking startups build a more robust business.
This should be a great event and I’ll be moderating the “Power in Numbers and Community” panel with Brit Morin, Founder of Offline Ventures, BFF, Brit + Co and Selfmade, along with NBA All-Star, entrepreneur, investor, and More Than Us NFT Venture Studio founder Baron Davis. Plus, when you register, you can opt-in to receive our exclusive NFT artwork created by Shaylin Wallace.
Join Ethics Researcher, Robert Prentice, J.D., UT Austin, as he provides insight into the research and the psychological roots of why good people regularly make unethical decisions. During his presentation, he will share evidence-based methodologies to ethically navigate the gray.
Join us for our Women in Tech Power Hour discussion as we explore the experiences and realities of women in San Antonio’s tech community in a lively panel discussion moderated by Cat Dizon, Active Capital’s co-founder and Geekdom’s board chair.
A 2-hour FREE bootcamp hosted by Hustle Fund to teach you how to invest in startups.
Featuring portfolio companies from OurCrowd, recognized by PitchBook as the most active venture investor in Israel. OurCrowd vets and selects companies across all sectors and stages, invests its own capital, and provides its global platform of over 200,000 registered members from 195 countries with unparalleled access and freedom to co-invest from as little as $10,000 in the companies and funds of their choice.
Join us at Spotlight, where we'll be showcasing selected Latitud's portfolio companies across different stages in Latin America as a part of Vamos Latam Summit, our first of a series of in-person events.
Vamos Latam Summit is a series of events where over 1000 entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem get together to connect, learn, create and have fun. The first event will be in São Paulo on Sep 21, 2022.
This webinar will describe the 10 common mistakes for angel investors to avoid as they consider new investments and follow-on investments. The webinar will offer a timely perspective on how angels are navigating their investment portfolio construction and diversification. Please submit your questions in advance so we can tailor the webinar content to your needs!
In this exciting "Reverse Demo Day", VC firms will pitch to founders! How will they feel, with the tables turned?
Daba is democratizing access to business in Africa by providing a simple mobile application that enables investors of all levels to invest in Africa's best Private and Public companies. Investing in Africa has never been easier. Only 5% of the startups that apply end up listing on our platform.
The batch of companies that will present will be released on September 5th.
If you represent a business angel, a family office, or a venture capital fund looking for privileged access to the hottest pre-seed deals in Europe, join us on Monday, September 26th to learn more about our sourcing framework, our track record and our upcoming raising events.
Tampa Bay Wave is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit "Zero-Equity" accelerator, taking no equity share in its member companies, that has mobilized a coalition of both public and private partners to fund operations and help transform the region into a significant tech hub. Wave’s extensive mentor network provides world-class startup support and has enabled Tampa Bay Wave to become the only Florida member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN).
Pitch Perfect is a bi-monthly pitch competition designed to encourage pre-seed & seed stage startups of any industry to participate. The featured startups are curated from the broader LvlUp Ventures Community.
The six featured startups will be pitching to a panel of five investor judges. Each startup will have 4 minutes to pitch, followed by a 6-minute Q&A from the investor judges.
Meet Outlander VC's game-changing portfolio companies! More details coming soon.
Digital Demo Day is an event for founders, press, and accredited investors to view our most recent accelerator and global startups and to network with the greater early-stage community.
This Is A Visionary will showcase among the most innovative and diverse companies breaking new ground and raising capital. We are highlighting companies from the Visible Hands portfolio who are actively fundraising and have hit significant milestones within their respective businesses. Tune in on Thursday, May 5th to hear founders pitch their incredible companies and find out ways you can get involved.
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and World Business Chicago, the city's economic development agency, join national organization Gen Z VCs to announce its national event, Gen Z VCs Future-of-Chicago Summit 2022.
Join Peachscore for our second Demo Day on Stonks, giving the investor community a look at 8 companies with their Peachscore (the first credit score for startups) that are poised to disrupt industries and change the world through their innovative technology.
The Techstars Anywhere Summer Demo Day Premiere, will give the Techstars Anywhere community and a select group of investors a first look at the 12 companies before their final pitches are presented to the broader Techstars investor community the following week.
Our investment thesis for the upcoming 2022 T4 program will be focused on Fintech: Pre-seed and Seed, Fintech Anything Defi: Crypto, Web3, Open Source, Prop Tech, Death Tech, Silver Tech, Insurtech, Payments Infrastructure, Lending - repayment products (Financial inclusion offerings - supporting the unbanked and underbanked), Consumer and Commercial, Domestic, Mountain Region, LATAM
About LOI Venture: we are a $20M seed-stage venture fund co-founded by Ryan Holmes and Manny Padda focused on backing the smartest founders under 30. Our partner accelerator, League of Innovators, has seen 250+ startups graduate and ~$1B of enterprise value created.
Pygma is reshaping the startup acceleration infrastructure for LatAm. Starting by educating founders and accelerating startups we are co-building through a deeply connected community powered by technology. Come join us in our first ever fundraising.
The Algorand Miami Accelerator is the world’s first blockchain accelerator focused on supporting startups from the American continent, and globally. Over a 10-week program, we have worked closely together with some of the utmost startups propelling innovation and leveraging the blockchain technology in different industries. These incredible teams are now ready to pitch and take their companies to the next level.
Recommended by LinkedIn
For 10 years, the global cloud community has come together at re:Invent to meet, get inspired, and rethink what's possible. Join us again this year in Las Vegas for our biggest, most comprehensive, and most vibrant event in cloud computing. I'll be co-hosting our Meeting of the Minds dinner with some of the top global startup CEOs and teams.
The 15th annual SXSW Pitch will take place in front of a live audience and panel of expert judges. The pitch will feature 40 Interactive technology companies from eight different categories: Artificial Intelligence, Voice, & Robotics; Enterprise & Smart Data; Entertainment, Media & Content; Food, Nutrition, & Health; Future of Work; Innovative World Technologies; Metaverse & Web3; and Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability. Click here for everything you need to know about the application process. Hope to see you in Austin!
🏘️ NEED SOME EVENT SPACE?
Check out this huge modern concrete loft with stunning views in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, for your next shoot.
Giggster is an app for booking event venues, photoshoots, filming locations, etc. that allows you to search by budget, size, style, or vibes. It’s currently available in the US, Canada and UK. Use this referral link to earn a $50 credit toward your first booking or rental, and for the rest of August, get 5% off all bookings placed on the App by using the code ONTHEGO-5 at checkout. *FYI: I am an investor!
⭐⬆️ STARTUP SPOTLIGHT
D-ID, a Tel-Aviv-based startup uses creative AI technology to take images of faces and turn them into high-quality, photorealistic videos. At the click of a button, it can combine images with audio or text to give them expression and speech. Companies can produce AI-powered, cost-effective videos for training materials, internal communications, marketing, and more, at the touch of a button.
Here’s a fun, customized sample just for us!
💸 INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT
Gale Wilkinson is Managing Partner at VITALIZE, an early-stage VC investing in "the work revolution"—defined as people-first, data-driven big ideas that transform how work is done.
VITALIZE is investing out of their second fund and writes $250-750K checks into seed stage companies raising $2-5M. VITALIZE Angels is a community of nearly 400 angel investors, with 70% under-represented check writers. US-based, Delaware C-corps companies that are pre-seed stage & raising up to $2M can pitch the VITALIZE Angels group for checks of $50-200K.
Founders are welcome to apply here!
When asked her advice on solidifying the right business model and metrics for pre-seed and seed stage startups, here’s what she shared: “Pre-seed companies should be post-product but have a lot of customer insights from interviews that inform what solves a true pain point in the market. By seed stage, founders should aim for $250K+ of ARR and $1-2M ARR is the typical threshold to raise a Series A.”
As for what resources can help? Gale recommends: “…find a handful of VCs and operators who share relevant information for your industry & stage. This could be on Twitter, LinkedIn, a podcast, or via a newsletter. There is so much content that focusing on a few really strong sources is what I would suggest!”
😇 MEET AN ANGEL CLUB MENTOR
Angel Club is an inclusive membership community for underrepresented angel-stage founders and angel investors. Angel Club provides access to seasoned mentors, monthly events, a robust resource library, investor and media databases, and more. Join Angel Club or email hello@angelclub.com for more info.
Since 2013, Jagruti Bhikha has been deeply integrated in technology companies and early-stage ventures, which has led her to maximize her broad set of skills that will bridge the significant gap for underrepresented communities in organizations. She has been in the technology sector for more than two decades working in different companies from Fortune 500 companies, to Venture firms, startups, and non-profits in the technology space in Silicon Valley.
Angel Club Members can schedule 1:1 mentorship calls with Jagruti as part of their membership.
❓ASK AN EXPERT
The AWS Startup Loft exists to support your startup journey. Start and grow with a wealth of resources, exclusive webinars, and free 1:1 sessions with an AWS startup expert.
🧰 STARTUP RESOURCES
📢 WORTH A LISTEN
📕 WORTH A READ
🔗 JOBS TO BE DONE
AWS is hiring for literally thousands of roles! If you or someone you know is on the job hunt, make sure to take a look here. If you see something that’s a fit, send your resume to hello@angelclub.com and I can pass it along to the hiring manager.
➡️ Senior Product Marketing Manager, AWS Activate
➡️ Strategic Pursuit BD Lead, AWS Startups
🍾 CELEBRATIONS
NEW DEAL FLOW: Check out who’s investing in your sector!
Adwoa Beauty, a Dallas startup that has developed a non-toxic, gender-neutral beauty brand catering to multi-cultural hair textures, raised a $4 million round from Pendulum. More here.
AnaOno, a nine-year-old Philadelphia bra manufacturer, raised a $1 million seed round led by Golden Seeds. Fortune has more here.
Beehive Industries, a startup based in Lincoln, Ne., that makes asset management software, raised a $2.1 million round, per Axios. Investors included Advantage Capital and the Community Development VC Alliance. More here.
BioBetter, a startup based in Kiryat Shemona, Israel, that has developed a protein manufacturing platform for producing growth factors using tobacco plants as natural, self-sustaining, animal-free bioreactors, raised a $10 million Series A led by Jerusalem Venture Partners. More here.
Ceezer, a one-year-old Berlin startup whose platform aims to simplify the planning, purchasing, and monitoring of complex carbon market portfolios, raised a $4.2 million round from Carbon Removal Partners and Norrsken VC. The company has raised a total of $5.2 million. More here.
Chargezoom, a startup based in Irvine, Ca., that integrates with common accounting applications like QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Xero, and provides tools that allow businesses to collect payments faster with full GAAP compliance, raised a $10 million Series A round co-led by Panoramic Ventures and Softbank Opportunity Fund. More here.
CorePower Magnetics, a Pittsburgh startup that manufactures inductors and transformers that operate with increased temperature stability in smaller, lighter packages, raised a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Volta Energy Technologies. More here.
CuriMeta, a startup based in St Louis, Mo., that aims to improve precision medicine and accelerate medical research of complex diseases by sorting and analyzing dense clinical data, raised a $6 million round. Investors included BJC HealthCare and Washington University School of Medicine. More here.
Daalchini, a startup based in New Delhi that offers smart vending machines to hundreds of brands in India, raised a $4 million round led by Unicorn India Ventures. More here.
D’Amelio Brands, a Los Angeles startup (launched by the TikTok-famous family) that aims to create products across a variety of industries, from fashion and beauty to CPG and lifestyle, raised a $6 million seed round. Investors included angels such as Autograph co-chairman Richard Rosenblatt, Apple SVP of services Eddy Cue, and Lions Gate Entertainment CEO Jon Feltheimer. More here.
Delli, a London startup that aims to use the “drop” model seen in fashion (where a limited amount of a new product is released at a set time) to sell food products from small producers, raised a $7.2 million round co-led by Balderton and HV Capital. The company has raised a total of $10.5 million. More here.
EarlyDay, a Miami startup that aims to be a LinkedIn for early childhood teachers, raised a $3.25 million seed round co-led by Alpaca VC and Struck Capital. The company has raised a total of $4.3 million. More here.
Edda, a startup based in Wilmington, De., that claims to provide limited partners with real-time insights into a fund's performance, raised $5.8 million, per Axios. Investors included Mucker Capital, Plug & Play, FJ Labs, and Future Shape. More here.
EnviroSpark, an eight-year-old Atlanta startup that has installed more than 5,000 electric vehicle chargers across the United States and Canada, raised a $5.25 million Series A round led by Ultra Capital. More here.
Flair, a startup based in Berkeley, Ca., that sells smart vents and thermostats that can balance heating and cooling across a home, potentially slashing energy use, raised a $7.6 million Series A round co-led by Active Impact Investments and Lowercarbon Capital. More here.
Gig and Take, a one-year-old startup based in Mechanicsburg, Pa., that develops scheduling software for manufacturers that can incorporate "flex labor," raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round led by Schematic Ventures. More here.
GoGoPool, a crypto startup that uses a decentralized tokenization system built on Avalanche that enables hardware operators to join the protocol and receive matching funds from liquid stakers, raised a $5 million seed round co-led by Framework Ventures and Coinfund. More here.
Haru Invest, a three-year-old Singapore-based digital asset management platform, has raised $4 million in funding led by Cocone Corporation. More here.
Hilma, a new Boston-based direct-to-consumer running shoe brand using mass personalization and new fit technology created specifically for women, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Brand Foundry Ventures. More here.
HotStreak, a startup that has developed a web3 platform for daily fantasy sports contests, raised a $9 million Series A round. The deal was led by Polychain Capital. The company has raised a total of $10.5 million. TechCrunch has more here.
JusticeText, an Irvine, Ca.-based software company that stores, catalogs, analyzes, and then shares video evidence in order to increase transparency around criminal matters, has raised $2.2 million in seed funding. Participants in the round include Bloomberg Beta, True Ventures, Reid Hoffman, singer-songwriter John Legend and former Stockton, Ca., mayor Michael Tubbs. More here.
Odyssey Energy Solutions, a Boulder, Co.-based investment and asset management platform that aims to enable the financing of distributed energy projects at scale, has raised $5.34 million in a seed round led by Equal Ventures. More here.
Passionflix, a Los Angeles-based romance-focused streaming service founded by Tosca Musk (Elon's sister), raised $9.4 million. AMC Networks led the round, joined by First Look Media and romance novelist Bella Andre. More here.
Raftt, a one-year-old, Tel Aviv-based cloud platform for creating and sharing development environments, raised $5 million in seed round. Aleph VC and Cardumen Capital co-led the deal. More here.
Remento, a two-year-old, Los Angeles-based storytelling app that aims to preserve family stories through conversation prompts and other tools, has raised $3 million in seed round led by Upfront Ventures. More here.
Scan.com, a London startup that aims to speed up the process of booking and receiving results for medical imaging scans, raised a $2.5 million round led by Triple Point Ventures. More here.
Smoothie, an L.A.-based discover-to-earn awards platform to help founders launch web3 projects, has raised $1.2 million from investor Balaji Srinivasan, Toubi Capital and LongHash Ventures. More here.
Stack, a year-old, Seattle-based startup that calls itself the "first crypto education and trading app for teens and their parents," has raised $2.7 million in seed funding from Madrona, The Venture Collective, Santa Clara Ventures and a group of individual investors. More here.
Tailor, a five-year-old startup based in Valencia, Spain, whose platform delivers data from back-office systems like finance and procurement to other applications via API, raised a $4.3 million seed round. Investors included Y Combinator and Global Brain. More here.
Tozero, a three-month-old, Munich-based battery recycling startup, raised €3.5 million from Atlantic Labs, Verve Ventures and Possible Ventures. More here.
Userpilot, a San Francisco-based startup that helps SaaS companies personalize in-app onboarding experiences for users, has raised $4.6 million in seed funding led by Silicon Badia. More here.
Warren James, a Los Angeles startup that aims to help creators launch unique merchandise brands, raised a $6 million round led by Crossbeam Venture Partners. More here.
Wreno, a startup based in Scottsdale, Az., that is building a proptech platform that trains and connects workers and trade partners with institutional real estate companies, raised a $5 million seed round led by Lerer Hippeau. The company has raised a total of $6.1 million. More here.
Zeet, a two-year-old, San Francisco-based DevOps automation platform, has raised $4.3 million in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital. More here.
🎉 CONGRATS: These folks are making money moves!
💵 NEW FUNDS: Applauding the latest funds investing in startups!
Remember to reach out to advisors that can help you build your team, business, or fund. Learn all about how to source and leverage advisors and customize these templates to start reaching out today!
AFTER HOURS:
😳 Watching - This fun video of two black bears dancing. While unpacking boxes at my dad's house this summer I found a shirt I wore when I worked on a referendum to protect bears. It says “Protect Your Right to Arm Bears” 🐻. My son, Bronco, loved it so much that he wears it now. Everyone asks about it and it allows us to keep furthering the cause!
👏🏻 Applauding - These three 👑👑👑 — Serena Williams’ evolving, Sue Bird’s retirement, and the Queen transitioning. Each woman has helped transform global culture in positive ways by inspiring all of humanity and most certainly many girls and women. Sometimes, being underestimated can give you just enough wiggle room to create cracks in walls and ceilings so you can let your bright light shine through.
INVESTORS: Do you want access to Angel Club deal flow? Investors are invited to complete this form so that we can match targeted opportunities to your investment thesis.
FOUNDERS: Do you want to pitch to investors in Angel Club? Fill out this form so that we can learn more about your business, share relevant opportunities, and make introductions.
📢 Have something you want to share in an upcoming edition? Message me here or email info@angelgambino.com.
Make it a great week!
With grit, grace, and gratitude,
Angel