Angel network closes four investments in eight weeks
by Matt Dunbar
While summer is traditionally a relatively slow period for angel investors due to vacation schedules, UCAN managed to stay plenty busy this summer, completing four investments during an eight-week span. Meet the newest members of UCAN’s diverse portfolio of early stage investments.
Gastke
Although the company’s name is a bit tricky to pronounce, their AuditFile software is easy to say, and easy to use (for accountants, anyway). Gastke is a team of two young, talented entrepreneurs from California who moved to Greenville this spring to complete the Iron Yard accelerator program.
With backgrounds in accounting and software, they developed a modernized cloud-based software suite to help CPA firms improve the efficiency of their audits. While that may not sound so exciting on the surface, it was compelling enough for them to be offered a spot (after they graduated from the Iron Yard) in Boost VC, a Silicon Valley accelerator program operated by the Draper family – which is akin to royalty in the venture capital world.
UCAN co-invested in Gastke this summer with Draper Associates, and the company is now steadily adding customers and gaining significant traction with strategic and capital partners.
Selah Genomics
Selah Genomics is the third evolution of one of UCAN’s earliest investments, Selah Technologies. Michael Bolick launched Selah several years ago to commercialize nanotechnology invented at Clemson University. The company was acquired by UK-based Lab 21 in 2009, and then late last year, Bolick spun his company back out from Lab 21.
The new company is called Selah Genomics, and the business is now focused on molecular and genomic diagnostic services for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. This new iteration of Selah was initially capitalized with help from SC Launch and Nexus Medical Partners, and UCAN invested this summer as the company quickly scales up its business with major biotechnology firms.
Avadim
One of the largest issues facing hospitals and patients today is the negative health outcomes and skyrocketing costs associated with hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Those infections come in many forms, but one of the most prevalent is catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or CAUTIs.
Avadim LLC of Asheville, N.C., has recently entered the market with Theraworx, a non-toxic skin cleanser and protectant that has proven highly effective in inhibiting CAUTIs in hospitals. Given the inherent difficulty of preventing these types of infections, and the substantial financial penalties for hospitals due to HAIs under new Medicare and Obamacare rules, the Theraworx solution is quickly gaining traction in the marketplace.
The company’s technology also has broad applications in consumer markets, including dermatology, cosmetic, feminine hygiene and veterinary settings, and the company hopes to launch additional product lines in those segments in the coming months.
Physcient
Continuing with the life sciences theme, UCAN participated this summer in a national syndicate of angel investor groups that backed Durham, N.C.-based Physcient, a medical device company developing a new generation of smart surgical instruments.
The company’s leading product in development is a Differential Dissector that uses smart technology to automatically differentiate between softer and firmer tissues, leading to much faster and safer surgeries with significantly less intraoperative damage to surrounding tissues. The investor syndicate for Physcient was led by the Life Science Angels from the San Francisco Bay Area, and included several investor groups from the Carolinas to Pennsylvania.
This broad co-investment activity points to an increasing trend in the early stage capital marketplace, as angel groups work together to fill the capital gap left behind by changing dynamics in the traditional venture capital industry. In addition to funding deals together, angel groups like UCAN are also working through the Angel Capital Association to impact and improve public policy for startups and investors on the federal and state level.
You may have seen recent news about pending rules allowing startups to advertise their fundraising efforts, or about a new law in South Carolina that allows angel investors to claim a 35 percent income tax credit for qualified investments in South Carolina startups. In both cases, entrepreneurs and investors need to be well-informed about the nuances, opportunities and potential issues stemming from these new laws.
If you would like to learn more about these new rules for startups and diverse investment opportunities for investors, follow us on Twitter at @UpstateAngels, visit our website or contact me at matt@upstateangels.org.
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[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end id=”” class=”” style=””]Matt Dunbar is managing director of the Upstate Carolina Angel Network. [/ezcol_2third_end]
