In the first 10 weeks of 2013, the Upstate Carolina Angel Network invested in startups across three major regions of South Carolina. The investments ranged from Charleston to Greenville, and across industries from biotechnology to digital media. Despite their diversity of geography and industry, each investment shared common threads of strong leadership, unique technologies, growing markets and attractive potential returns.
Here’s a closer look at what these entrepreneurs are up to, and why the Upstate Angels invested.
CharlestonPharma
CharlestonPharma is a biotechnology company developing antibodies and diagnostic tests to help fight cancer. Based on research conducted at the Medical University of South Carolina, the company’s antibody therapies target a protein called nucleolin, which is expressed on the surface of many cancer cells – but not on normal cells. The company is being led by Brad Goodwin, a startup veteran and former vice president of finance at Genentech, along with the inventor of the technology, Daniel Fernandes of MUSC, and renowned oncologist Robert Capizzi. While UCAN does not normally invest in drug development startups, CharlestonPharma has a clear strategy to partner early with a large biotech company, reducing the enormous capital and regulatory risk associated with the drug development space.
“The science of treating cancer is evolving so that therapy is increasingly discriminating among targets that make cancer cells different from normal cells,” explained UCAN member Jeff Giguere, an Upstate oncologist. “This new nucleolin target and the antibody CharlestonPharma is developing give us hope that we may be able to treat multiple types of cancer with really minimal toxicity.”
Following UCAN’s investment, Goodwin noted, “We value UCAN’s participation in our financing, both for their domain expertise as well as for the participation of a sophisticated group of South Carolina investors in helping CharlestonPharma succeed.”
Pandoodle
Pandoodle is a digital media company that made its way from Silicon Valley to Columbia when its CEO, Dirk Brown, took the role as director of the Faber Entrepreneurship Center at the University of South Carolina. The company develops software that enables dynamic customization of video content with extremely high quality and very low cost. In simple terms, what that means is that Pandoodle can insert realistic, customized brand placements into video footage based on where and how the video is being viewed – which has tremendous potential value for content creators, distribution channels and brands.
UCAN investor Tom Govreau was particularly impressed with Pandoodle’s technology and expressed confidence in the CEO. “He’s demonstrated success in previous technology startups, and he’s been resourceful and responsive in attracting capital in a difficult capital marketplace,” Govreau said.
“The due diligence process at UCAN was thorough, professional, and ultimately very helpful to our company,” said Dirk. “We are excited about having such a seasoned group of helpful technology investors involved with Pandoodle.”
Iron Yard
The Iron Yard is working on the “Next Big Things” in the Upstate technology community. From co-working space and conferences for developers, to code academies and a startup accelerator, the Iron Yard is putting the pieces in place for Greenville and Spartanburg to become a renowned hub for technical talent. The accelerator in particular drew the interest of UCAN, as it works with eight to 10 teams of entrepreneurs to accelerate their startups in intense three-month bursts. The first program ran in Greenville last summer, with the second gearing up next week and a third scheduled for Spartanburg in the fall. Investors in the Iron Yard not only support the program and the ecosystem, but also retain a small piece of equity in the startups that come out of the program, many of which go on to raise additional capital and continue their growth trajectory.
“The Iron Yard is not your typical angel investment, but ironically it represents the true ideals of what every angel investor is seeking,” noted J.B. Holeman, UCAN’s co-founder. “The Iron Yard portfolio is itself diversified, with each company representing a potentially profitable return. It directly supports the nurturing of regionally based, high-growth startups; it’s building on proven success from last year; and it focuses on providing actionable, financial education to both developing new entrepreneurs and those that invest in their ventures.”
Peter Barth, founder and “Head Honcho” of the Iron Yard, underscored that UCAN’s investment was valuable for more than just the capital. “We couldn’t be more excited that UCAN is investing in our program again this year,” he said. “They’re a crucial partner for us, offering not only capital, but rich strategic relationships as well.”
Likewise, UCAN is excited to partner with this diverse set of startup companies that represent the promising and intriguing opportunities entrepreneurs are generating in South Carolina. To help fund those entrepreneurs and their economy-growing enterprises, UCAN is always on the lookout for potential investors who are interested in learning more about early-stage angel investing. If you would like to get involved, please visit UCAN’s website at upstateangels.org, or contact me at matt@upstateangels.org.
[break]
Matt Dunbar is managing director of the Upstate Carolina Angel Network.
