INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., August 18, 2015 – – VisionTech Angels, the angel investing arm of VisionTech Partners, has named Stuart Gutwein, an Indiana attorney, angel investor, and active champion of the state’s innovation economy, president of the Greater Lafayette Chapter of VisionTech Angels. Gutwein succeeds acting chapter president, Don Scifres, managing partner of VisionTech Partners.
VisionTech Angels, which is certified by the Angel Capital Association, is among Indiana’s premier angel investing organizations, with chapters in Indianapolis (headquarters), Bloomington, Lafayette, and Warsaw.
Gutwein is a co-founder of Gutwein Law, a business law firm with offices in Lafayette and Indianapolis, Indiana. In his law practice, Gutwein focuses on serving as outside general counsel to emerging and growing businesses, including company formation, capital raising and other financing transactions, operational issues, and mergers and acquisitions.
Gutwein is an active and respected champion of Indiana’s innovation economy, which promotes the commercialization of new technologies and formation of job-creating startup companies. An entrepreneur himself, he co-founded Boulder Group, LLC, a real estate capital and asset management company; Granite Student Living, a property management company; and recently established M25 Group, LLC, a micro-venture capital firm focused on participating in Seed and Series A financing of companies.
“I am pleased to serve as the president of the Great Lafayette chapter of VisionTech Angels. An active, connected angel network is one of the last missing pieces in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Greater Lafayette,” Gutwein said. “Connecting entrepreneurs, investors, inventors, and startups—and having a good time—will be a large part of what we do.”
Gutwein shares his legal and business expertise by advising and assisting start-up companies at the Purdue Foundry; The Anvil, a Purdue student led co-working space; MatchBOX, a Greater Lafayette co-working space; and zWorks, a co-working space in Zionsville. Additionally, he is a member of the Alternative and Direct Investment Securities Association (ADISA).
Commenting on Gutwein’s new role, VisionTech Partners Managing Partner Don Scifres said, “VisionTech is very fortunate to have Stuart lead our Lafayette chapter. While investing in start-up companies with a high potential for growth is a priority, we also provide valuable business mentoring. Stuart’s long-time involvement with start-up companies and entrepreneurs and his deep personal roots in Greater Lafayette are true assets to the VisionTech Angels community.”
Prior to co-founding Gutwein Law in Lafayette and Indianapolis with his cousin Andrew Gutwein, Gutwein was an associate in the business division of Indianapolis law firm Sommer Barnard, PC, now known as Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Indiana State Bar Association and the Tippecanoe County Bar Association, as well as a member of the Ag Law Council of the Indiana State Bar Association.
Gutwein earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management from the Krannert School of Management of Purdue University and his juris doctor from Indiana University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude.