PROVOCATIVE QUOTE
“Pick money with passion over brains!” – JD Morris
BOTTOM LINE
As I prepare for my conference next week, I come to the question of what is a good investor? Accredited Investors, Celebrities, CXOs, Family Office, HNWI, ect…..
Majority of the time you will need access to capital and an investor with passion opens up his contacts. A smart investor can help you build your company, but can also have brains to take over. Your going to get a lot more out an investor with passion that can place you in contact with customers, capital, and friend & family of theirs.
Stepping down from my soap box, but think before you say I want smart money only. With brains comes a whole different set of pros and cons! More importantly, if you have amazing deal the money will come. If people are not throwing money at you, please do not say we want smart money (it is not that smart).
DISCLAIMER
Always consult your own set of experts and our Senior Executive Advisors (SEA) are such experts. A lot of our data is from 3rd parties such as news outlets, so double check with the source . A company’s PR statement will have spin, but core information should be correct. Remember what we say is often based on our motto:
“Say Provocative statements that intelligent people argue about fast without dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s. As life is all about fun and results!”
Our goal is for you to provide a referral via text or e-mail (both is better) and have some fun!
FOCUS WITH SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Again this is a beta blog so we will test keeping it short with supporting documents. My view is maximum of 10 slides and rest should be supporting slides, so I keep core part of the blog post to half foot.
Happy Networking and Investing,
JD Morris
Join me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdmorris
COOL JPG
Celebrities have a lot of passion and some are also smart. Here are few that made the news! These guys do have passion, but celebrity investors do have pros and cons! FYI: these are celebrity investors that again made the news! Majority of the celebrity investors investment are not public in private companies.
DATA DUMP ( TODAY DEALS )
The venture capital and private equity world is alive and well! Here are just a few companies that are getting funding for growth! Not ever deal needs to be a Unicorn.
- Alpha II, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based provider of healthcare software services including claims editing, billing accuracy, and quality reporting, raised an undisclosed amount in funding from WestView Capital Partners.
- Axial Biotherapeutics, a Boston-based company using microbiome research to develop therapies for central nervous system and neurological disorders, raised $19.2 million in Series A funding. Longwood Fund and Domain Associates led the round, with participation from Kairos Ventures, Heritage Medical Systems and a group of angel investors.
- Civis Analytics, a Chicago-based data science company founded by Dan Wagner, President Obama’s former data director, raised $22 million in Series A funding. Drive Capital led the round, and was joined by Verizon Ventures, WPP, and Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt.
- Clue, a Berlin health app for tracking menstrual cycles, raised $20 million in Series B funding. Nokia Growth Partners, Nokia’s venture arm, led the round, and was joined by Union Square Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, Brigitte Mohn and Christophe Maire.
- LovePop, a Boston greeting card company, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Accomplice Ventures led the round, and was joined by angel investors including Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary, Wayfair co-founder and CEO Niraj Shah, and Bob White of Bain Capital.
- Mycare, an Auckland, New Zealand online marketplace for finding and managing home care services for the aged, disabled and injured, raised $3.5 million in new funding.
- Nohla Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biotechnology company developing treatments for life threatening hematological disorders and cancers, raised $43.5 million in Series A funding. ARCH Venture Partners led the round, with participation from 5AM Ventures and the Jagen Group.
- OxThera AB, a Stockholm-based biopharmaceutical company, raised €32 million ($34 million) in new funding. Life Sciences Partners, Ysios Capital, Sunstone Capital, and Flerie Invest co-led the round, with participation from existing investors Kurma Partners, Idinvest Partners, Stiftelsen Industrifonden, and Brohuvudet.
- Phil, a San Francisco-based prescription medication delivery service, raised $7.5 million in Series A funding. Crosslink led the round, and was joined by Eniac Ventures.
- ServiceAide, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of IT and cloud services for small and medium businesses, raised $12 million in new funding. Arrowroot Capital led the round.
- Solarflare, an Irvine, Calif.-based maker of networking software and hardware technology, raised $22.2 million in funding, according to an SEC filing.
- SonarSource, a Geneva-based provider of quality assurance tools for software code, raised $45 million in funding from Insight Venture Partners.
- Sudden Coffee, a San Francisco instant coffee maker, raised $2.7 million in seed funding. CRV led the round, and was joined by Founder Collective, Lifeline Ventures, and several angel investors.
- Tetra Discovery Partners, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based biotechnology company developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders, raised $5 million in Series A funding. Apjohn Group and Grand Angels co-led the round, with participation from Dolby Family Ventures, and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, among others.
- TicketSauce, a San Diego, Calif. event management software developer, raised $2.5 million in Series A funding. Draper Frontier Opp & Tech Fundled the round.
- TransPod, a Toronto-based company building a high speed transportation system based on Elon Musk’s “hyperloop,” raised $15 million in seed funding from Angelo Investments.
- S2solutions, a Seattle provider of inventory management software for the cannabis industry, raised $1 million in seed funding from unnamed investors.
- Vaadin, a Helsinki-based provider of web application development tools, raised €5 million ($5.3 million) in funding from private equity firm Verdane.
- Worximity Technology, a Montreal producer of smart industrial technologies, raised $2 million in funding from W3 Investments, the Fonds de solidarite FTQ, and BDC Capital.
- Zensurance, a Toronto online commercial insurance broker, raised $1 million in funding. Ferst Capital Partners led the round.
PROVOCATIVE INVESTMENT
Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s fund invested $100 million into Lyft and $3.5 Uber. Muslim woman here in USA are using this services. Is this investment driven because they are smart or is it the passion for their religion (or both). Or is it a step in right direction allowing them access to better transportation? Pros and Cons as always.
DOUBLE DISCLAIMER
Remember our motto and research everything as Google is your friend!
