Investors in United States
Every firm we hold for United States — venture capital, angel networks, accelerators, private equity and family offices, with stage focus, sector focus and cheque range.
12,712 firms · page 2 of 265
Nul
People of color are changing the way America does business. The buying power of African-American and Latino consumers tops $1 trillion annually, and research indicates that these groups are also the fastest growing number of new small business owners. Business startups are key to job and wealth creation, and through the work of the National Urban League’s Entrepreneurship Center Program, people across the country are being empowered to establish new ventures every day. Our Entrepreneurship Centers enable minority entrepreneurs who are running their businesses as sole proprietors, to thrive by growing revenue above $750k annually and creating jobs. Initiatives include: Start Up Together is the National Urban League’s new small business development program launched in partnership with the SBA’s community navigator program. Through the Community Navigator Pilot Program, SBA is partnering with the National Urban League and other organizations in targeted outreach for small businesses in underserved communities. In partnership with PepsiCo Foundation, the National Urban League has launched the Black Restaurant Accelerator Program to help address systemic barriers faced by Black-owned food service companies, particularly in the time of COVID-19. The Program will include the coaching and training services needed to help these businesses build an actionable plan for growth, and with the objective of profitability and sustainability.
Graph Ventures
Mr. Sebastien de Halleux serves as Co-Founding Partner at Graph Ventures. He is a Co-Founder and serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Saildrone. He served as the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Playfish. He serves as a Board Member at Vittana. In his role within EA Interactive, Sebastien drives distribution, monetization, business development, and relationships with key partners across the division's three business units, Playfish, Pogo and EA Mobile. He was chief operating officer and co-founder of Playfish leading up to the company's acquisition by Electronic Arts in November 2009. Prior to Playfish, Sebastien was part of the team that incubated Nokia Ad Service, a business unit aimed at monetizing mobile traffic across Nokia's 850 million mobile devices worldwide. Sebastien also was an early team member of Macrospace Ltd., a company which merged with Sorrent Inc. to become Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU), where he was instrumental in building the sales and marketing functions of the organization. He later expanded Glu's distribution footprint in Europe, forged key partnerships with network operators Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange, and reorganized the company's financial planning and sales operations in preparation for its IPO on NASDAQ. Sebastien holds a Master's in Civil Engineering with honors from Imperial College London. He has resided in Brussels, Bangkok and London, and presently lives in San Francisco.
Noosphere Ventures
Mr. Watt serves as a President & CFO at Noosphere Ventures. He is also an Angel Investor. He joined William Blair & Company in 2010 as the head of Internet and digital media investment banking. Prior to joining the firm he was a Partner in America’s Growth Capital’s Menlo Park investment banking group. Before joining AGC, Mr. Watt was a Director in the Technology Investment Banking Group at Merrill Lynch, where he was a leading member of its Global Internet and Digital Media investment banking practice. He joins AGC with 10 years of investment banking experience, having advised on over $10 billion of equity and debt financings, as well as over $20 billion of mergers and acquisitions for clients including Blue Nile, eBay, eHealth Insurance, FTD, InterActiveCorp, HP, Move.com and Research in Motion. Previously, Mr. Watt was a member of Merrill Lynch’s European Financial Sponsors Banking Group, based in London, UK, where he focused on strategic advisory and debt financing assignments for leading European and US private equity funds. A native of Scotland, Mr. Watt began his career at Ernst & Young. Immediately prior to joining AGC, he was a Managing Director at TriplePoint Capital, a global specialty finance company, where he focused on later stage venture investing. Mr. Watt holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (CA).
Benchmark Capital Partners
Mr. Robert Kagle is a Co-Founder and serves as General Partner at Benchmark Capital. He has several years of venture capital investment experience, Bob is a veteran of the venture industry. Prior to Benchmark, Bob spent 12 years as a General Partner with Technology Venture Investors. Before TVI, Bob worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he focused on issues of corporate strategy in industries ranging from retail distribution to high technology manufacturing. His various investments are AllPosters.com, Ariba (ARBA), Art.com (acquired by Getty Images), Arteis, Axiom Global, eBags, eBay (EBAY), E-Loan (EELN), Friendster, Gaia Interactive, Get2Chip (acquired by Cadence), Jamba Juice, Logoworks (acquired by HP), Mint, PeopleSupport (PSPT), Potbelly, Prosper, Stitcher, Synopsys (SNPS), uShip, WorldWinner.com (acquired by Fun Technologies), Zipcar and zipRealty (ZIPR). Most recently, Bob's investments have been focused in the consumer internet arena. Bob is a past president of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists, a former director of the National Venture Capital Association, and the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees at Kettering University. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, 1980, General Motors Fellow, BS in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute (renamed Kettering University), 1978, Sobey Scholar. He is the board member at eBags.
Signia Venture Partners
Mr. Sunny Dhillon is a Co-Founder & serves as a Partner at Signia Venture Partners. He joined the Signia team in 2012 after launching his own location-based mobile startup named Barstool and investing in early stage technology companies for New World Ventures in LA and Chicago. He was previously an M&A analyst in technology investment banking at Rothschild in London, a business development manager at a venture backed spin-off of New Line Cinema, and a corporate strategist for Warner Bros.He is a mentor for various incubators in Silicon Valley and is on the board of Cents of Relief, a charity based in Connecticut that focuses on reducing human trafficking in Indian urban slums. He is also a board member for Next Gen Partners, the Valley's leading venture capital mentoring organization.Sunny invests across consumer and enterprise sector startups, with a particular interest in gaming, consumer, and digital health.Sunny graduated with his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where he was a Lee Hague Scholar. He has an undergraduate honors degree in Economics & Management from Oxford University and a master's in International Relations & History from the London School of Economics (LSE), where he graduated with distinction. He served as Board Observer at Artillery Games. He also serves as Board Member at Drifter Entertainment. He serves as an Advisor at TheWaveVR.
Valley Small Business Development Corporation
Valley Small Business Development Corporation was incorporated in 1981 as a nonprofit, public benefit, small business development corporation. Valley is authorized to make direct loans to farmers and small businesses, as well as to guarantee small businesses and family farms with increased access to capital through both such direct financing mechanisms. To further insure the successful completion of this mission, Valley collaborates with a wide variety of public and private financing institutions. Generally speaking, our lending footprint encompasses the nine counties that make up the San Joaquin Valley; Stanislaus County is the farthest north and Kern County is the most southerly county. Valley has conducted a variety of financing related activities over the past 34 years that focus on providing significant community and economic development benefits to the residents, family farmers, small businesses, empowerment zones/enterprise communities, Champion Communities, Renewal Communities, and enterprise zones within our service area. These include the following financing programs and products: State Small Business Credit Initiative (“SSBCI”) loan guarantee program; Direct Farm Loan Program; USDA-Rural Development Intermediary Relending Program; USDA Business and Industry Loan Program; SBA Microloan IRP Program; SBA Community Advantage Program; Wells Fargo Bank Small Business/Farm Loan Program.
Fyrfly VC
Mr. Philipp Stauffer serves as Venture Partner at Allegro Venture Partners. Mr. Stauffer is also a Co-Founder and serves as General Partner at FYRFLY Venture Partners. He an Advisor at Doky and serves as the Board Member at Beekeeper. He brings domestic and international mobile, online, ecommerce, digital marketing, cloud, data-science and enterprise software experience. Philipp is the Founder & CEO of Onor, a start-up in native & immersive marketing. Philipp is also a Founding Principal at Dropimpact, an Innovation Catalyst and Think Tank in Silicon Valley. He was part of the Senior Executive Team at Adchemy (acquired by Walmart) and led strategic sales and client services. Prior to Adchemy, Philipp was a Managing Partner at Accenture focusing on growth strategy and innovation. Most recently he was a Founding Partner of Accenture Interactive (now Accenture Digital), a now leading global marketing practice with more than 4,000 digital marketing and data sciences professionals globally. Philipp is an active investor and advisor to start-ups such as Playspan (acquired by Visa), NoiseToys (acquired by Jawbone), Appstores (acquired by InMobi), PubMatic, Angellist, Powerinbox, Pley, Active Replay, and Philz Coffee among others. Philipp holds a MS in Economics from the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, Switzerland and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Howard Stanley Marks
Mr. Howard Marks is an Angel Investor. He is the Founder & serves as Co-Chairman at Oaktree Capital Management. Since the formation of Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Marks has been responsible for ensuring the firm's adherence to its core investment philosophy, communicating closely with clients concerning products and strategies, and managing the firm. From 1985 until 1995, Mr. Marks led the groups at The TCW Group, Inc. that were responsible for investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, and convertible securities. He was also Chief Investment Officer for Domestic Fixed Income at TCW and President of TCW Asset Management Company, the largest of the TCW companies. Previously, Mr. Marks was with Citicorp Investment Management for 16 years, where from 1978 to 1985 he was Vice President and senior portfolio manager in charge of convertible and high yield securities. Between 1969 and 1978, he was an equity research analyst and, subsequently, Citicorp's Director of Research. Mr. Marks holds a B.S.Ec. degree cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in Finance and an M.B.A. in Accounting and Marketing from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago, where he received the George Hay Brown Prize. He is a CFA® charterholder and a Chartered Investment Counselor. Mr. Marks chairs the Investment Board of the University of Pennsylvania.
Northern Initiatives
Northern Initiatives is a Community Development Financial Institution. We’re in business to provide loans and business services to small business owners and entrepreneurs who create jobs and enable the communities of Michigan and neighboring Wisconsin to thrive. Loan types are: Micro Loans: $1,000-$50,000. Great for starting a new business, purchasing equipment, or working capital. Business Loans: $25,000-$500,000. Great for starting a new business, buying existing business, expanding your business or purchasing equipment. Healthy Food Access: $2,500-$300,000. Great for new and existing healthy food production, distribution, processing, and retail projects that will increase fresh food in underserved communities. Contract/Purchase Order Financing: $5,000-$250,000. Great for supplementing cash flow or expanding your business. Commercial Real Estate Loans: $50,001-$500,000. New and existing businesses that need funds to finance real estate that will be 50% or greater owner-occupied. This is not a passive investment; financing is usually combined with operating capital. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Loan Program: New and existing businesses that will either: 1) create new jobs for HUD-designated low- to moderate-income individuals via a loan to start, acquire, maintain, or expand a business or 2) remediate slum and blight properties in designated communities.
Bfm
The BFM Fund is a seed-stage investment fund that prioritizes Black and innovative founders who are creating impactful ventures and unique business models. We believe that different lived experiences help shape our realities, pain points, and perceived solutions. We invest in founders that can bring their unique lived experience and solve pain points in a differentiated way and/or create organizations that encourage disruption within an ecosystem. We are truly industry-agnostic and have both B2B and B2C, tech and non-tech companies in our portfolio. Our fund strategy is to work closely with Series A-Series C industry specific funds and experts to then create metrics and guidelines to support companies post-investment and help get them funded at the next level with industry-specific capital and resources. The BFM Fund is run entirely by a Women of Color leadership team, who come from blue collar backgrounds, and our board is comprised of people of color and women who have all built their own funds and companies. Our General Partner is a former school social worker, which helps guide our mission towards equitable access and representation. Equity is important to us on all levels; we launched several initiatives and philanthropic projects to increase both founder and funder representation through our non-profit entities, Venture Partners and The Emerge Initiative.
Founders First Capital Partners
LocationSan Diego, CaliforniaType of CapitalLoanType of FundGrant, Loan FundStage of CapitalEarly Stage, Growth StageMax Capital$2,000,000Focus AreaB2BB2B Technology & ServicesDisadvantaged FoundersDiverse TeamsEconomic EmpowermentLGBTQ+ FoundersLow-Income CommunitiesModerate Income FoundersPOC-LedWomen-Led Founders First provides revenue-based funding, term loans, advisory services, and accelerator programs to small businesses led by women, people of color, LGBTQ+, military veterans, diverse teams, or businesses located in low- to moderate-income areas. Revenue-based financing is more flexible than traditional bank debt, with no equity dilution. It is similar to a term loan format in which the loan is paid back over several years, but instead of a fixed payment every month, we take a percentage of revenue. This allows for a smaller payment during slower revenue months, and larger payments in stronger months. Ninety percent of the companies we fund receive additional capital throughout our relationship with them. Our goal is to get you to bank financing. Along with growth capital, we also offer expansion advisory programs, which guide these underserved businesses to realize the growth potential ahead of them. If you have predictable or repeatable revenue, are profitable, or on your way to profitability, and have at least $500,000 in annual revenue, let’s talk.
GV
Ms. Shernaz Daver serves as Advisor at GV. She is a leading marketing, business, and communications executive. She has over 20 years of experience building brands and consumer perception; advising executive management; scaling operational teams; and developing global businesses to take companies to the next level in marketing and mind share. Over her tenure, she has worked with numerous companies on a range of areas from brand building to crisis communication. These companies include Netflix, Walmart, Udacity, Motorola, Polyvore, Khan Academy, Zynga, Groupon, Kosmix, 3DO, PlayerScale (Yahoo), MetaPlace (Disney), Red Hot Labs (Google), Truveo (AOL), Savvis (CenturyLink), Orbital Data (Citrix), Indiegogo, and Baidu. She serves as an advisor to several companies including Spritz and Zettata. Previously, Shernaz served as the chief marketing officer and head of investor relations at Inktomi. Under her leadership, Inktomi became one of the hottest Internet names reaching a $37 billion valuation, and received numerous media and Wall Street accolades. Shernaz started her career at Sun Microsystems where she built a brand name for Solaris, the Sun operating system, and spearheaded the company’s European software initiatives from Paris. Shernaz holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, Phi Beta Kappa, and a master’s degree from Harvard University.
Miramar Digital Ventures
Mr. Sherman Atkinson serves as Managing Director at Miramar Ventures. He joined Miramar in 2011 and focuses on early stage, Digital Media investing, with a particular emphasis on social media, online advertising and new forms of e-commerce. Previously, Sherman was with Austin Ventures, where he was a CEO-In-Residence in their Growth Equity Practice. Prior to Austin Ventures, Sherman spent 17 years as an operator and an entrepreneur in the new media and e-commerce sectors. He served as the Chief Operating Officer of Intermix Media, Inc. (AMEX: MIX), - incubator of MySpace.com. As part of the turn-around team, Sherman helped develop a number of new Internet media properties and also served as the President of Intermix Network, one of the largest Advertising Networks in 2005. During his tenure as COO, Intermix was acquired by News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) for $673 million. Prior to joining Intermix, Sherman served as the Chief Operating Officer of Buy.com and President of BuyServices, Inc. Sherman received his BA in Russian from Purdue University. He also served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps and spent five years as a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton. Sherman currently serves on the board of Pointstreak Sports Technologies, Inc., a Canadian-based, venture-backed company focused on the Online Sports Registration and Statistics space.
Richard C. Spalding
Mr. Richard Spalding serves as a Managing Director at Kearny Venture Partners. He also serves as Board Member at Aspire Public Schools. He is an angel investor. He has been investing in and advising private companies for more than 30 years. Prior to KVP, Dick was Vice President and the first CFO at Portal Software (1997 - 1999), which grew from 10 to 120 employees during his tenure. Prior to Portal Software, he served as CFO for Fusion Medical Technologies, and was responsible for all aspects of the company's IPO. Before Fusion, he was the head of West Coast investment banking for Alex. Brown and Sons, which included supervision of the firm's Japan office. Dick was with Alex. Brown between 1991 and 1996, during which time he and Jim were partners. Dick joined Alex. Brown, after a fourteen-year tenure at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, where he co-founded the firm's Palo Alto office, which grew from 2 to over 100 lawyers. He specialized in representing biotechnology companies, including IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gen Pro, Inc., and Xoma, Inc., among others. He was previously an observer to the board at Align Technology [NASDAQ: ALGN], and currently serves as an observer to the board at Kai Pharmaceuticals and served as the Board Member at Spinal Motion. He holds an A.B. with honors from Harvard College, and a J.D. with honors from Columbia Law School.
Boydstreetventures
One of the country’s few minority-owned venture capital firms, Boyd Street Ventures (BSV) was created to support the economic growth of the State of Oklahoma while generating above average returns for investors by providing both funding and de-risking guidance to Oklahoma-affiliated startups. The firm expects that its model will contribute to building Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and allow Oklahoma-based startups to have the financial resources and strategic and operational tools necessary to stay and grow in Oklahoma. The majority of BSV’s portfolio companies come from the ecosystems of the University of Oklahoma or other state universities, from alumni of those schools, or through some other Oklahoma connection. BSV’s Fund I targets Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A and follow-on investments in five sectors that are strengths of the University of Oklahoma, which has been given the highest rating for research activity by the Carnegie Classification. The five sectors are: Life Sciences, FinTech, Energy Tech, Aerospace/Defense, and Climate Tech. As of June 1, 2023, BSV had invested in 10 companies, several of which it has made follow-on investments in, and expects to make additional investments before the Fund closes. BSV has announced that Fund I has an initial closing date of June 30, 2023 and a final closing date of no later than August 31, 2023.
Innovation Depot
Innovation Depot is a technology center and business incubation program that focuses on developing emerging biotechnology/life science, information technology, engineering, and service businesses and operates in partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). A public-private economic development effort, Innovation Depot is funded by the Birmingham regional business community, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and other leading private foundations, UAB, the City of Birmingham and Jefferson County.Innovation Depot combines the expertise of business incubation professionals with a next-generation facility offering you the space and equipment you need to take your business from concept to reality. Located in the heart of Birmingham, Innovation Depot is just minutes away from UAB, an internationally recognized research university and academic health center, and from the citys legal and financial district. It is located in the heart of the Entrepreneurial District in close proximity to Railroad Park, Regions Field (home of the Birmingham Barons) and the citys thriving downtown housing and restaurant scene. The 140,000-square-foot facility can give your company the room it needs to start and grow. Flexible floor plans and shared conference rooms mean you can dedicate space to whats important to your business as it develops.
PACE Business Development Center
PACE Business Development Center (BDC) is an SBA Microloan Intermediary and a Community Advantage lender, PACE is a COIN certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Community Development Entity (CDE) and an official CalCAP Lender. PACE BDC also houses an award-winning Women’s Business Center and operates two of nine Business Source Centers within the city of Los Angeles. PACE is the community lender that has a fundamental belief in the importance of broadening access to capital and financial services to underserved populations in economically distressed communities in order to promote individual and family economic self-sufficiency. In order to do business with the government it is necessary to fulfill their basic requirements, as well as understand the government contracting process. PACE provides assistance to businesses seeking to market their goods and services to the federal, state and local government, either directly or as subcontractors. Owning a small business can be an extremely gratifying experience, however the financial aspects of owning a small business can at times become extremely stressful. Many small businesses are lacking the capital needed to help their business grow. PACE is the community lender that can get your small business the capital needed to ease your financial stress and start growing your business.
Michael F. Powell
Dr. Michael Powell is a Co-Founder and serves as the Chairman at Dauntless Pharmaceuticals. He is also a Board Member at Galera. He serves as Managing General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures. He also serves as Chairman at Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Powell serves as a General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures. He also serves as a Director at Ocera Therapeutics. He also serves as a Board Member at Labrys Biologics. He was an early investor in Actelion (SWX: ATLN), InterMune (NASDAQ: ITMN), Anesiva (NASDAQ: ANSV), Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX), Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN), and Threshold Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THLD), as well as in several private companies such as Ascenta, Intellikine, and Trius Therapeutics. Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Dr. Powell worked in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry on 20 clinical products, and has authored almost 100 papers and books. Dr. Powell was Group Leader of Drug Delivery at Genentech (1990-97). In 1987, he was part of the founding team of Cytel as the Director of Product Development. Before that he was Scientist and Project Team Leader at Syntex Research. Dr. Powell received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1981, and completed his post-doctorate work in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of California, where he was subsequently a faculty member.
Think Beyond Plastic Accelerator
Think Beyond PlasticAccelerator, Inc is focused on accelerating early-stage businesses with a proven business model, solid management team and innovative solutions to plastic pollution. These businesses must measurably reduce plastic pollution through their innovation. Our focus is on disruptive innovation especially in the areas of food packaging, medical waste, reduced plastic waste, alternatives to styrofoam as well as innovative Cradle-to-Cradle product design. Entrepreneur Services- Review and analysis of business plan, investor presentation and financials; business guidance, strategy and organizational support- Assistance with building a strong business team- Market and basic SWOT analysis- Broker and guide deals with major customers, suppliers, strategic partners and investors- Direct innovation focus, develop business model, assist with productization of technology, and guidance in defining the target market and the value propositionInvestor Services- Pre-qualified business opportunities tailored to specific interests and needs- Due diligence covering technology, market opportunity, company and teamIndustry Services- Pre-qualified businesses offering solutions in a space identified as a strategic need- Opportunity to work with early stage technologies to help define a product offering that addresses their specific pain points
Sunset Ventures
Sunset Ventures is a Pre-Seed venture fund in Los Angeles and San Francisco. We take pride in being early believers, and seek to be the first institutional investor within a startup’s first $1M raised. Our mission is to invest in founders building a better tomorrow. A sunset represents the natural end of a cycle, and it comes with the promise of a new day beyond the horizon. We are a thesis-driven firm and believe the next era will be “democratizing participation.” Software that enables people to participate in value creation and positive outcomes will win. This new era is possible as builders leverage new frontier technologies: AI, blockchain, and XR. We focus on sectors most ripe for change, such as gaming, media, finance, commerce, and work. Sunset’s founding GPs, Brandon Hoffman and Antonio Key, have over 20 years of sector experience. The partners have worked together for 10 years from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, and most recently as investors and operators at Samsung. In the last 5 years, they have invested in over 70 companies, with 84% of those going to BIPOC and/or women founders. Sunset also signifies our roots and presence in California, prioritizing local founders to build local community. Community is key to how we add value and support founders with finance, business development, and fundraising.
Newcommunityfund
The mission of the New Community Transformation Fund -Denver (NCTF-Denver) is to create above market returns by investing in the domestic emerging market. NCTF-Denver is an early-stage venture capital fund based in Denver, Colorado with the goal of investing primarily in companies owned and/or operated by founders of color, while providing suitable risk-adjusted returns to its investors. We define investment as the interconnectedness of capital, leadership, and the fundamentals of business. We are active participants in the success of our portfolio companies. We leverage our extensive ecosystem to mitigate risk and engineer wins. NCTF Denver has built a robust network of mentors, advisors, and corporate partners. Those partnerships with the fund actively assist in the brokering of relationships with the portfolio companies to assist in strategic customer partnerships as well as talent acquisition for senior management and board members. We believe in a more diverse economy, driven by economic prosperity in Denver and Colorado’s communities of color. With greater access to capital and essential support services, we’re creating upward mobility for entrepreneurs who haven’t been given this opportunity historically. NCTF Denver is actively partnering with investors who share this vision and are ready to lead.
ClearCo
Clearco is a suite of performance financing products and services tailor-made to help founders win. A pay-as-you-grow pioneer and the world’s largest ecommerce investor, our mission is to remove the barriers between brilliant ideas, and brilliant businesses. Clearco has invested $2 billion-plus into 4,500+ companies using data science to identify high-growth funding opportunities in less than 24 hours. This data-driven approach takes the bias out of decision-making and helps Clearco fund 8x more female founders than traditional VCs across 6 countries. What are the minimum requirements for funding? We currently provide financing for eCommerce and Consumer SaaS (software as a service) companies. At this time we are unable to provide capital to service-based, or agency companies. To receive funding offers, your business must meet our eligibility requirements. Marketing Capital, Inventory Financing, or ClearRunway: 6+ months of revenue greater than 10k/month from connected sales platform(s) incorporated (i.e. corporations or limited liability companies) in North America, United Kingdom, Australia or The Netherlands ClearAngel: 2-20k/month in revenue from connected sales platform(s) incorporated (i.e. corporations or limited liability companies) in North America, United Kingdom, Australia or The Netherlands
Founders Co-Op
Mr. Andy Sack is a Co-Founder ad serves as Managing Partner at Founder's Co-Op. He also serves as a Mentor at TechStars. He also serves as Board Member at MightySignal. He is a Board Member at Influence Mobile. He served as a Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Lighter Capital. Prior to Lighter Capital, Andy was the co-founder and CEO of Judy's Book, a local search social network. Prior to founding Judy's Book in 2004, Andy co-founded three successful Internet technology companies: Kefta, a provider of real-time customer interaction solutions (acquired in 2007 by Axciom); Abuzz, an enterprises knowledge management solution (acquired by New York Times Digital in 1999) and Firefly Network, an Internet company that pioneered internet personalization technologies (acquired by Microsoft in 1997). Andy also spent time as an entrepreneur in residence for SOFTBANK Venture Capital (now Mobius VC). Andy currently serves on the board of and advises a number of companies including: zango, Cooler Planet, and Orange Line Media. Andy was also a founder and board member of Students for Responsible Business, and is a regular lecturer at the University of Washington Business School. Andy received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1990 and his MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
Tensility VC
Mr. Wayne Boulais is a Co-Founder and serves as Partner at Tensility Venture Partners. He also serves as a Board Member at Anokiwave and Advisor at Hyde Park Venture Partners. Previously, Mr. Wayne Boulais served as General Partner at Apex Venture Partners. He serves as Advisor at Energy Foundry. He was a general partner with investment focus in wireless, enterprise applications, and cleantech. Prior to joining Apex, Wayne was a founding member of the Marsh & McLennan Capital C&I Fund. He was also a partner at Marsh's, Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) developing growth strategies for high-tech clients. Prior to Mercer, Wayne led engineering development teams for Raytheon Corporation. Wayne received his MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management, and an MS and a BS in Engineering from University of Massachusetts. Wayne currently serves on the boards of Enkata Technologies, IfByPhone, and IQS. He is a board observer of CombineNet. Wayne is also a board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association and a supporting member of Chicago's Clean Energy Trust. Wayne's previous investments included Broadbeam (acquired by MobileAware), eCredit (acquired by Fidelity Ventures), Imaging Portals (acquired by MWA Intelligence), and RMI Corporation (acquired by NetLogic Microsystems).
The Graham Group
The Graham Group is a family office headquartered in York, Pennsylvania, The Graham Group is an alliance of independently owned and operated industrial and investment management businesses that share in the common legacy of entrepreneur Donald C. Graham. As of year-end 2011, The Graham Group's three legacy industrial businesses, Graham Packaging, Graham Engineering, and Graham Architectural, collectively operated in more than 90 locations worldwide and generated approximately $3.5 billion in annual revenues. The Graham Group has also spawned several independently-managed investment management businesses. First, Graham Capital Company manages a $1.25 billion portfolio of marketable securities along with investments in over 100 alternative investment funds for the Graham family, and also oversees the operating businesses and direct investment portfolio of the Graham family. Second, Graham Partners and Inverness Graham are independent registered investment advisors, which manage approximately $2 billion in committed private equity capital and co-investment funds, principally on behalf of institutional investors. Finally, Striker Partners and Graham Software Development are two additional Graham Group-related investment businesses, which are involved in a variety of investment sectors.
NextEquity Partners
Dr. Avadis Tevanian is a Co-Founder & serves as a Managing Director at NextEquity Partners. He also serves as a Managing Director at Elevation Partners. Previously, Dr. Tevanian served as the Software Chief Technology Officer of Apple Inc. from 2003 to 2006. As Software CTO, Dr. Tevanian focused on setting the company-wide software technology direction for Apple. Prior to his tenure as Software CTO, Dr. Tevanian was Senior Vice President of Software at Apple, a role he took on when Apple acquired NeXT, Inc. in 1997. As Senior Vice President of Software, Dr. Tevanian led the software engineering team responsible for the creation of macOS and worked as part of Apple's executive team. Before joining Apple, he was Vice President of Engineering at NeXT, Inc. and was responsible for managing NeXT's engineering department. Dr. Tevanian started his professional career at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a principal designer and engineer of the Mach operating system upon which Nextstep, and now macOS and iOS, are based. Dr. Tevanian is a former board member of Tellme Networks, Inc., an internet telecom company acquired by Microsoft. He holds a B.A. degree in mathematics from the University of Rochester and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.
Tekton Ventures
Mr. Jai Choi is the Co-Founder at Tekton Ventures. He also serves as Venture Partner at Partech Ventures. He joined Partech International in 2006 and focuses on early stage opportunities in Internet, Software and Mobile. He has spent most of his career as a serial entrepreneur and early stage investor. Jai is currently a founder of Tekton Ventures, a seed stage venture fund focused on helping founders build and grow their early stage companies. Jai has invested in a number of companies at the seed stage including UserVoice, Coupang, TasteMakerX, EatClub, DoodleDeals(Plum District), Schoolfeed, etc. Jai was also a founder of PeerPong, a cloud-based semantic search company acquired by FormSpring.me in early 2011. Prior to Partech, Jai was a partner with IGNITE Ventures, a $250M venture fund and advisory group with strategic limited partners from major Asia-based technology conglomerates. Jai has extensive experience advising and working with major Asia-based technology companies on new growth platforms, new business formation, joint venture, and M&A. Jai started his career in management consulting at PA Consulting Group, focused on market-related and operational issues for major telecom and energy companies. Jai received a Bachelor Science from University of Southern California.
Nicholas Gross
Nicholas P. Gross is Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for International Operations of Michael Baker International, LLC. Mr. Gross’s management responsibilities encompass all facets of the organization with the primary responsibility of providing operational leadership for over 4,000 international employees supporting operations that have spanned over 150 countries and six continents. Mr. Gross brings over 15 years of experience in international management, strategic development, and project execution. Mr. Gross served as the Chief Operating Officer at KS International since 2011 successfully leading the integration of operations of three separate companies, improving performance and bottom line profitability. Since joining our organization in 2005, Mr. Gross has also served as the Executive Vice President for Engineering and Professional Services and the Executive Vice President for Defense Programs. Previous to joining KSI, Mr. Gross was responsible for strategic planning for contingency emergency services for KBR, Inc. in the Middle East. Prior to that time, Mr. Gross worked in a variety of international management positions with DynCorp, KBR, and Northrop Grumman. Mr. Gross holds a B.S. in Business Administration (summa cum laude) from Troy University.
Icon Ventures
Mr. Paul Sallaberry serves as Venture Partner at Icon Ventures. He serves as the Chairman of the Board at Seal Software. He was a Member of the Board of Directors for Quest Software, an information technology and systems management company that recently became a part of Dell. He provided strategic guidance to Quest as it developed, manufactured, and supported software used in a variety of industries. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of Acquia, a commercial open-source software company that concentrates on products and services for Drupal. Mr. Sallaberry also sits on the Board of Advisors for PureStorage , Liquid Robotics, and Calypso Software. Aside from his work as a board member, he holds a spot on the University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management Dean’s Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees of the UC Davis Foundation. He is also a Trustee of Sacred Heart Schools and a Venture Partner at Jafco Ventures. Before taking up his current duties, he spent eleven years with Veritas Software, now Symantec, as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations. Earlier in his career, he worked with software companies such as Oracle, Applied Data Research, and Dorado Software. He holds a degree from the University of California, Davis.
Acrew Capital
Acrew DCF is a new growth stage investment fund from Acrew Capital, that aims to diversify the ownership and leadership of leading growth stage companies through value added capital. Acrew DCF has been created to bring more diverse shareholders to later-stage investments of companies that are IPO bound, in turn increasing representation of women and PoC leaders in the ownership of such companies. Acrew DCF also strives to help our portfolio companies diversify their boards, executive teams, and perspectives by tapping into the unique network of diverse leaders who are involved as Equity Partners or Community Leaders in the DCF. We aim to have a triple bottom line impact by providing strong investor returns, improving company performance, and expanding the investable assets for diverse individual angel investors. For Growth Stage Companies: Acrew DCF targets investments of $5-$15m in growth stage equity financings. We are valued-added co-investors alongside lead growth investors. We help market leading companies at a critical point in their lifecycle. We increase representation and diversity of the shareholder base through a single vehicle. We provide unique access to Acrew DCF’s network of Diverse Leaders to help diversify boards, exec teams, and perspectives.
Battery Ventures
Mr. Neeraj Agrawal serves as a General Partner at Battery Ventures. He serves as Board Member at Sprinklr Japan. He also serves as a Board Member at Brightree, Glassdoor, Yesware, Catchpoint, Pendo.io and Chef. Mr. Agrawal was a founding investor in BladeLogic (NASDAQ: BLOG, acquired by BMC). In addition to BladeLogic, Mr. Agrawal's investments include Applimation (acquired by Informatica), Bazaarvoice (NASDAQ: BV), Brightree, Consona (acquired by Vista Equity Partners), Guidewire Software (NASDAQ: GWRE), Internet Brands (acquired by Hellman & Friedman), LifeMed Media, Marketo (NASDAQ: MKTO), Mass Relevance, Omniture (acquired by Adobe), RealPage (NASDAQ: RP), Sprinklr, Tealium, VSS Monitoring (acquired by Danaher), Wayfair (formerly CSN Stores) and Yesware. Prior to Battery, Mr. Agrawal worked as a product manager at Real Networks, an operating executive at SkyTV and a management consultant with Booz-Allen. Mr. Agrawal holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science from Cornell University as well as an MBA with honors from the Harvard Business School. He is a Charter Member of TiE, an active advisor to several local entrepreneurs, and has been named numerous times to the Forbes Midas List, which ranks the top 100 venture capitalists around the world.
Jayna Cooke
Jayna Cooke is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and investor based in Chicago, IL.Originally from Michigan, In 2007, Cooke moved to Chicago and began her career in sales for Echo Global Logistics, Inc, a startup funded by Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkosky. Over the course of three years, Cooke became the number one salesperson, managed sales and training teams, and helped develop the enterprise sales division.In 2008, Keywell and Lefkosky tapped Cooke, and she joined Groupon, Inc as the Vice President of Business Development. Cooke simultaneously managed the largest books of business at both Echo and Groupon at throughout 2009. She helped develop sales strategies for the daily deal giant, and brought in the two largest accounts to date, Gap and Nordstrom. Cooke has also helped with numerous marketing and charitable giving campaigns, including securing placement on Oprahs Favorite Things, which helped raise more than $1MM for kiva.org.In 2012, Cooke left Groupon, and joined Eventup temporarily as Chief Revenue Officer. That same year, Cooke began to pursue philanthropic passions, and launched Closet Angels. Closet Angels takes donated designer goods from individuals and designers, then resells the items with proceeds donated to St. Jude Research Hospital.
Metro Community
Metro Community Development is a Certified CDFI, an approved Small Business Administration (SBA) intermediary micro loan lender and a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis with focus on serving the Flint MSA, Shiawassee, Lapeer, North Oakland and Saginaw MSA. These resources create the opportunity of leveraging public and private financing for community stability and economic development. The Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Business Loan Program has been established to assist in the creation of new jobs and to expand businesses in the Mid-Michigan area with low interest loans for those who do not qualify for traditional lending. The Enterprise Loan program provides low interest loans over $50,000 and up to $200,000. These funds can be used as leverage for financing with other lenders and direct loans for business expansion and job growth. The Enterprise Loan can be used for equipment, building upgrades, commercial purchases, inventory, and working capital. Metro Community Development has partnered with Michigan Corps and Team KIVA to provide assistance for clients to participate in 0% interest loans up to $5,000. These loans are crowd funded on the KIVA website by private lenders within the community.
MergeLane
Ms. Sue Heilbronner is a Co-Founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer at MergeLane. Ms. Sue Heilbronner is a Co-Founder of Shinesty and also serves as its Board Member. Sue has been a CEO, President, or Chief Marketing Officer for digital marketing and ecommerce companies since the earliest days of the internet. She began her career as an attorney – last as a federal prosecutor with the US Department of Justice. She transitioned to business by founding an online baby gift company in 1999, which she later sold when she joined Discovery Communications, parent company of Discovery Channel and 15 other international networks. Since Discovery, Sue has led companies in the interactive travel, digital publishing, ecommerce, and online education sectors. Two of these firms had successful exits. Sue has the privilege of serving as a mentor in the international Techstars Accelerator program and an Adjunct Professor of Law and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Law School. She is an avid angel investor in companies with amazing founding teams working on problems she cares about. She has been mentoring tremendous young talent throughout her career. Sue earned a B.A. from Oberlin College and a J.D. and M.A. from Duke University.
Mbafund1
The Minority Business Accelerator Fund I (MBA Fund I) was created to address the well-documented gaps and shortfalls in the availability and access to equity and growth capital for entrepreneurs of color and inner-city based businesses seeking scalable business ventures. Nationally less than 1% of equity capital (be that early-stage venture capital or later stage private equity) is invested in African American and Hispanic-owned businesses which perpetuates the preponderance of smaller-scale business enterprises in these communities. MBA Fund I provides equity and flexible debt investments that enable entrepreneurs of color to purchase existing mainstream businesses with no identified business succession plan as its primary investment thesis. MBA Fund I also provides direct equity and flexible debt investments to existing minority-owned businesses that require an infusion of growth equity capital to help scale the business and optimize enterprise value. Growth equity investments can be used for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, launching a new product line, investing in new systems and technology platforms, pivoting to a related or complementary industry, and building out a robust management team, to name a few.
Tabreez Verjee
Mr. Saad Khan is a Co-Founder and serves as Partner at Uprising. He also serves on the advisory board for start-up Lending Club, and is a founding member of the FilmAngels. Previously he sat on the board of directors for Blekko, Luminate and Jobvite, a company that developed an on-demand recruitment application to drive and manage talent acquisition for small to mid-sized enterprises. He served as Partner at CMEA Capital. Prior to joining CMEA, he was a Venture Partner and led the advisory services group at Garage Technology Ventures (GTV), a seed stage venture fund. During his career at Garage, he focused on emerging technology investments in the software and digital media space, working closely with many companies including TripleHop (acquired by ORCL), cFares, and Savage Beast (Pandora). Before GTV, he worked for the IBM alphaWorks group in Cupertino, CA, focusing on commercializing IBM R&D. he also worked for the Strategic Planning and Business Development Groups at the Walt Disney Company, helping to develop the strategic and operating plans for ABC, ESPN and Disney's e-businesses. He received a B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems and an A.B in Economics with Honors in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.
MBF Healthcare Partners
Dr. Phillip Frost serves as an Advisor at MBF Healthcare Partners. He presently serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of OPKO Health, Inc. (NYSE: OPK), a specialty pharmaceutical company. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of TEVA Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ: TEVA), Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, Inc. (AMEX: LTS), and Prolor Biotech, Inc. (AMEX: PBTH) while also serving as a Director of Castle Brands, Inc. (AMEX: ROX). Previously, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of IVAX Corporation (AMEX: IVX) until its sale to TEVA for $8.5 billion, and Director of Continucare Corp. (NYSE: CNU) prior to its sale to Metropolitan Health Networks Inc. (AMEX: MDF). He also served as Chairman on the Board of Directors of IVAX Diagnostic (AMEX: IVD), and as Co-Vice Chairman of the American Stock Exchange (NYSE: NYX) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC). He serves on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami, Governor of Tel Aviv University, Chairman of Temple Emanu-El, and is a Trustee of each of the Scripps Research Institutes, the Miami Jewish Home for the Aged, and Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Harrison Metal Capital
Mr. Michael Dearing is the Founder at Harrison Metal Capital. He serves as the Board Member & Advisor at Signal Sciences. He also serves as an Advisor at Kepha Partners. He currently teaches at Stanford University. Previously, he spent more than six years at eBay. As SVP & General Merchandise Manager of eBay North America, he was responsible for more than $1.7B in annual revenues and nearly $20B in gross merchandise sales across thousands of merchandise categories. He also led the development of many of the features and services of the eBay.com site including Buy It Now, eBay Stores, ProStores, and Want It Now. Mr. Michael also designed and built the company's first onsite, direct, and product marketing teams to leverage the world's largest database of online consumer activity. Prior to eBay, he held leadership positions at Industrial Shoe Warehouse, The Walt Disney Company and Bain & Company. He also serves as a Board Member at Grand Rounds, Flite, Good Eggs, ZipZapPlay, MoPub, Metaresolverand 500px and Adstack. Mr. Dearing joined the d.school faculty at Stanford University. He holds an AB in Economics with a focus in economic history from Brown University, as well as an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
Impact Seven
Impact Seven’s mission is to impact communities and lives through socially-motivated investment and service. We serve as an alternative lender to businesses looking to start, grow and thrive. We offer opportunity to people and businesses that may not be able to find it elsewhere because, while still rigorous, our processes are rooted in common sense. Our loans range from a few thousand dollars to a few million, but each client is as important as the next. An experienced alternative lender, we are a statewide, private, nonprofit community development corporation that works diligently to help our clients reach their full potential. Impact Seven has assembled a group of funds from public and private sources to create a small business lending pool, our Revolving Loan Fund. This fund is designed to assist growing and start-up businesses in our Wisconsin communities. Eligible borrowers are any emerging, expanding or existing businesses in the state of Wisconsin, and some counties in Minnesota, not considered “sin businesses” by federal regulations. Loans from this fund can range anywhere from $10,000 to $5,000,000. Impact Seven can help to facilitate additional funding needs with trusted partners for projects of any size.
Supplychange
Culture and climate - the defining forces of our time - are deeply impacting the future of food. Supply Change Capital invests in early stage food and agricultural technology businesses who are responding to seismic culture and climate shifts occurring in the $6 trillion food industry. With 15 investments in Fund I as of 2Q2023, 80% of the portfolio is led by female, Black, and Latinx founders. At the firm level, Supply Change Capital is impactful by design. The firm is led by two women, with 50% Latina ownership. With combined careers in food, tech, and investing, managing partners Noramay Cadena and Shayna Harris lead the team at Supply Change Capital. Noramay is a Boeing aerospace engineer turned investor who previously launched an early-stage venture fund that invested in more than 20 manufacturing and supply chain companies. Shayna has extensive executive experience at venture-backed startups and also at the global food company Mars. She has developed sustainable food strategies in over 20 countries. The duo met at MIT Sloan in 2009. Supply Change champions a community-first approach. This helps build deal flow, nurture co-investment relationships, and advance equity in venture capital opportunities and beyond.
Merus Capital
Mr. Peter Hsing is a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Director at Merus Capital. Peter has over 20 years of technology industry experience. Before co-founding Merus, Peter was Managing Director of the Corporate Strategy Group at Microsoft, where he led a team in identifying and evaluating several $1 billion+ growth opportunities. Under his mandate, he and his team successfully committed Microsoft to investing in Cloud services, from the acquisition of Microsoft's first SaaS offering to driving the strategic and business cases for Azure and Exchange Online. Peter was also a member of Microsoft's Corporate Development team focused on online consumer services, digital media, and interactive entertainment in the U.S. and Asia. Prior to joining Microsoft, Peter was an Associate in JP Morgan's Telecom, Media & Technology investment banking group and Private Placements team in Hong Kong and a management consultant with Price Waterhouse in their Dispute Analysis and Corporate Recovery Services group. He started his career in technology in 1988 as a marketing intern with IBM. Peter holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University.
Ucedc
As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) lender, we’re committed to helping startup and existing small businesses throughout our expanded service area of New Jersey, New York City, Westchester County (NY), Philadelphia, and Bucks County (PA). The loans we offer include microloans, SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans. Access to capital is often a business owner’s largest hurdle. We fund a variety of small business loans to meet your needs at every stage of your business’ growth. With loans from $500 to $5.5 million, our staff will work to find the solution that’s right for you. If you can answer “yes” to the following, you’ll be ready to move to the next step! Are you a U.S. citizen or do you have a green card? Does your credit report show that you are free of bankruptcies within the past five years or defaults on federally funded loans (such as a student loan) at any time? If you are a startup business (in business less than two years), do you have related skills or experience in your field of business? Will you contribute at least 10% of the project cost? For existing businesses, do you have sufficient cash flow to cover existing expenses?
Entrepreneurfund
The Entrepreneur Fund provides business loans for acquisition, expansion, working capital and other needs up to and exceeding $750k. We are agile, responsive and easy to work with, finding flexible financing options as needed. Our goal is to ensure capable entrepreneurs have the financing needed, when they need it for growth and success. We are a non-traditional small business financing option for growing and emerging businesses. We can lend outside the parameters of conventional business financing to ensure entrepreneurs with viable projects have the capital they need to propel their business forward. We also partner with banks, economic development lenders, investors and others as a gap lender on projects. We provide financing and strategic support to help entrepreneurs succeed across our service area in northeast Minnesota, central Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. We believe that successful entrepreneurs contribute to the vitality of their community, enhance a culture of entrepreneurship throughout the region and diversify the regional economy. A loan successfully repaid to the Entrepreneur Fund helps sustain our operations and provide services to other entrepreneurs in our communities.
Chicago Ventures
Mr. Stuart Larkins serves as Co-Founder, Investment Committee Member & Partner at Chicago Ventures. He is an Internet entrepreneur and digital marketing expert with more than fifteen years of experience leading Internet companies and start-up organizations. Mr. Stuart is a Co-Founder and Partner of Chicago Ventures. He was Senior Vice President and part of the founding management team at Performics. During his eight years at Performics, he helped lead the business through rapid growth and subsequent acquisitions by Doubleclick, Hellman & Friedman, Google, and Publicis. He was also involved in many online advertising industry groups and associations, such as the IAB, Yahoo Search Advertiser Council, MSN Search Committee, and the Google SEM Council. In addition to his involvement with the Chicago Ventures, Mr. Larkins is the Founder and Managing Partner of Twin Capital, where he is an investor in early-stage interactive marketing service and technology companies. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Shedd Aquarium, a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, and a member of the Springboard Foundation. He holds a B.S. in Economics from Southern Methodist University.
Metropolitan Economic Development Association(MEDA)
Our vision is to create thriving communities through equal economic participation. This can be achieved through BIPOC entrepreneurs, with Meda’s services and community support. Access to financing for operations and expansions is especially important for minority business stability and growth. Meda’s business loan program is designed to help clients find access to much-needed funding, which otherwise might not be available through traditional lending resources. Meda consultants can assist clients in developing a loan package to present to potential funders, which may or may not include the Meda loan program. Every circumstance is different and, accordingly, we try to source the very best rates and terms for all our clients. Businesses must be owned and controlled by entrepreneurs of color. Loan clients are encouraged to work with Meda business consultants. The program works in participation with your existing bank. Minimum loan amount is $25,000. Loans of more than $400,000 require a higher bank participation. Meda business loan proceeds can be used for: Working capital, lines of credit, business equipment, franchise fees, build-out, business acquisition, project financing
main street capital corporation
Main Street is a principal investment firm that primarily provides customized long-term debt and equity capital solutions to lower middle market companies and debt capital to private companies owned by or in the process of being acquired by a private equity fund. Main Street's portfolio investments are typically made to support management buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings, refinancings and acquisitions of companies that operate in diverse industry sectors. Main Street seeks to partner with entrepreneurs, business owners and management teams and generally provides customized "one-stop" debt and equity financing solutions within its lower middle market investment strategy. Main Street seeks to partner with private equity fund sponsors and primarily invests in secured debt investments in its private loan investment strategy. Main Street's lower middle market portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million. Main Street's private loan portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $25 million and $500 million. Main Street's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbol "MAIN."
Punchlime
Punchlime believes that one of the biggest reasons why startups fail is a lack of customers. Our innovative business model helps ensure the success of our portfolio companies and the ROI of our portfolio companies investment partners by strengthening in-house capabilities.The Punchlime team members are based both in the U.S and Europe, have been working together for many years and joined forces as Punchlime in early 2012.Punchlime's approach is to devote our top tier team, comprised of senior former Googlers, experienced entrepreneurs, business strategists and venture investors, to enable our portfolio companies to boost customer acquisition and all that it entails.Punchlime's Partnering Program helps high potential Internet-based companies to rapidly roll out. We have such conviction in the value we bring to our portfolio companies that we take an entrepreneurial approach on the acceleration expertise that has the obvious win/win for all concerned portfolio companies, customers, and investors.The members of the Punchlime team have been active individually with early and growth stage companies as entrepreneurs, advisors and board members throughout their careers.
AlphaPrime Ventures
Mr. Alessandro Piol serves as Partner and is a Co-Founder at AlphaPrime Ventures. Mr. Piol is a Co-Founder and serves as General Partner at Vedanta Capital. He serves as an Advisor at U-Start. He led investments in Arbortext (acquired by PTC), Cadis (Aspect Development), Cast Iron Systems (IBM), Digital Persona, LogLogic (TIBCO), ONI Systems (IPO in 2000), Portal Software (IPO in 1999), Torrent Networking (Ericsson), and Verisign (IPO in 1997) among others. In 1991, he co-founded AT&T Ventures where he led investments in BBN Planet (Verizon), Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic), Multex (IPO in 1999), Redgate Communications (AOL), and Spectrum HoloByte (Microprose/Hasbro). In 1995, Alessandro became a partner at Invesco Private Capital. Before working as a venture capitalist, Alessandro spent several years developing compilers in Fortran, co-founded the AT&T-backed graphics supercomputing business Pixel Machines, and worked as director of Strategic Partnerships for AT&T Computer Systems. Alessandro received an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1985. He received an MS and BS in Computer Science from Columbia University in 1982 and 1979, respectively.