The first few months of 2023 have been busy for New York Angel members and founders. We are looking forward to a year when we work smarter to drive unprecedented results within our resources. We continue to strengthen our relationships across the early-stage investment community as we know that together we can do more than alone. If you have not connected with us in awhile, follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date in between our monthly newsletters. Read on to learn about our recent investments, news from our some of our founders, the role of luck in investments, recent discussions on safer SAFE investments and more.
TOTAL 2023 YTD INVESTMENTS
New York Angels members have invested over $500k in the first two months of 2023.
FEBRUARY INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Ora Graphene
New York Angels members have invested for a third time in Ora Graphene as the company further develops its technology in producing large, very thin sheets of graphene. While the material has many potential applications, Ora Graphene has initially focused on the audio market by producing small graphene transducers for headphones. Gamers, award-winning music professionals and everyday music lovers agree Ora Graphene's superior sound technology will become the future of music. As NYA is one of the three largest investors in Ora Graphene, NYA member Bill Pertusi holds both a Board Observer and full voting right seat with the company. NYA was initially attracted to Ora Graphene because the company's formation by TandemLaunch ̶ a startup foundry and seed fund that incubates companies, hires a CTO to prove out the tech, then a CEO to formalize the company. As the liaison with TandemLaunch, NYA member Ed Levine has supported leading this NYA investment.
AuthMind
In AuthMind, our NYA team found a well defined problem in the security vulnerabilities of organizational software access control systems; a ready product for sale; a deep tech knowhow in the dev team, experienced management team (CEO, CTO) who have built IT security startups to exit, before and initial paid product sales into customers. The trailblazing sale, of $360K for a 3 year software license into Israel's largest insurance company - proved the use case, although more such deals are needed to prove the applicability in larger enterprises. Avi Fogel and Azi Cohen led the NYA deal with AuthMind.
COMPANY NEWS U.S. INTEGRITY U.S. Integrity recently announced a new joint venture Secure Sports Solutions (“S3”) to build integrity and compliance technology solutions. In partnership with Odds on Compliance, S3 will launch ProhiBet,the sports betting industry’s only prohibited bettor solution. U.S. Integrity’s mission is to grow the legal, regulated sports betting market by providing solutions that ensure sports betting integrity in every play, every game, every sport. Read More
COMPANY NEWS
CROWD IQ
Crowd IQ was recently named one of the 10 Most Innovative Sports Tech Companies by Sports Business Journal for its ability to deliver data about sports audiences in just a few minutes. CrowdIQ fuels team business intelligence with details about the types of people filling each section, when they take their seats and when they leave them. The breakthrough technology behind CrowdIQ can approximate an age, gender and fan affinity based on appearance and apparel. Read More
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Since joining New York Angels in 2017, Richard Reisman has been a key member and deal lead on several investments by bringing in his expertise on innovative revenue models. Richard shares his perspectives on why personal interest is important when investing, his 4x exit in only 13 months, and great books to read and networks to join when fundraising. Read More
MEMBER PERSPECTIVES ROLE OF LUCK Simon Hopkins
Luck can play a significant role in the success or failure of an investment, but there are clear ways to improve the odds of succeeding. NYA Member Simon Hopkins shares how luck has impacted his investments and the five basic principles to improve the chances of success for early-stage companies. Read More
MEMBER PERSPECTIVES A SAFER SAFE?
On Friday March 3, a members-only session was held to discuss SAFEs: Simple Agreement for Future Equity. This instrument has become increasingly popular so NYA wanted to explore recent trends and explore ways to provide further protections to investors. NYA is developing a Side Letter to accompany SAFE investments that is both investor and founder-friendly, giving investors rights similar to equity investments while maintaining the simplicity of a SAFE. NYA also discussed tax treatments and whether post-money SAFEs would start the clock running on Section 1202 QSBS tax exemptions. The session was led by Michael Costa, Alyssa Tam, John Younger, Cindy Cook (Member Engagement Team), Mark Schneider, Sanjeev Gupta with participation from Stephen Davis, Partner Goodwin Proctor. Thanks to all attendees for their active involvement. Learn more about SAFEs from FINRA
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS ESTONIA PITCH DAY
Estonia has been called the world's most digital society and is the home to more than 1,500 startups and 10 Unicorns including Skype, Wise and Bolt. NY Angels has developed a deep relationship with Estonian officials to create a pipeline for Estonian startups to the NYC tech ecosystem and to give our members the opportunity to invest in these innovative companies. On March 6, the Estonian government hosted members of NY Angels at Estonia House in NYC for a virtual pitch day with eight companies in Tallin. It was a great session, and we hope the first of many. Many thanks to Arvo Anton (Consul General), Alvar Soosar (Director of US Investment and Trade at the Embassy), James York (Head of US for Enterprise Estonia) and Valter Vohma of the Triniti Law Firm for arranging the event.
UPCOMING MEMBER MEETINGS
April Screening (Virtual):
• March 29th (9:30 AM - 1:30 PM)
Investment Forum (Hybrid):
• April 17 (9:30 AM - 1:30 PM)
FOUNDER DEADLINES
May 3rd Screening Application:
• Due April 12th
*New York Angels, Inc. ("NYA") is a not-for-profit corporation that is funded by membership dues for individuals and/or entities that NYA has designated as members as well as from certain sponsors. Its purposes include providing administrative support to its members. NYA does not invest in companies. Investments, if made, are made by individual members of NYA.
