VisionTech Partners

Author: Ben Pidgeon

  • Relationships Matter: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic and the Paycheck Protection Program

    VisionTech Partners is pleased to offer this Expert Insight from your sponsor, Stock Yards Bank.

    In early March, life was good. The conveniences and immediate gratification of the digital world had us all clicking along and feeling comfortable. Nothing was wrong with the status quo.

    Then COVID-19 reared its ugly head. Americans were ordered to shutter their businesses and hunker down until the virus could be contained.

    The coronavirus pandemic has greatly strained business owners, large and small, from all walks of life.  From industrial to tech, fashion boutiques to restaurants, everyone has been impacted by the global economic paralysis that began last March. Well aware of threats to the nation’s financial health, the federal government and Small Business Administration (SBA) moved swiftly to put a rescue plan in place. Thus, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was born.

    Let’s be honest here. It was a difficult birth.

    The idea was to deliver PPP dollars to small businesses when they needed funds most, which for most meant immediately. The federal government assumed banks would be able to execute the PPP application-to-funding process from day one. In most cases, the expectation was loans would be processed virtually overnight so businesses could continue operations. As a banker, it was obvious that the expectation of rapid-fire loan processing was an afterthought during the creation of the program. Unfortunately, as business owners found out, some banks were never actually ready or able to deliver PPP loans.

    It was an ugly surprise for business owners and banks.

    As a private banker at a community bank where we’re used to being flexible and quick on the uptake, the PPP process seemed like a monumental task. In the early days of the PPP program, the constant iterations of SBA forms and process changes made it feel impossible to accomplish even one step. Little information was given at first, and we were faced with an avalanche of questions from clients who were eagerly awaiting their turn to apply. The first three days were nothing but a rush of uncertainty, emotions and stress; we were challenged with managing the bank’s changes in operations and personally communicating with each client to soothe the fear and uneasiness they were experiencing.

    And that’s when the integrity and the culture of Stock Yards Bank & Trust took over. The institution literally stopped EVERYTHING to establish a well-organized process to manage our workflow on behalf of our clients. We had every sales, service, and operations person in the bank dedicated on improving and streamlining our PPP process. For more than a month, we worked nights and weekends, without question or concern. We kept our clients in the forefront of our minds and ensured their needs were our priority.

    Each day our process would improve, but our applications were mounting. The first completed application and funded loan felt like winning the lottery! I had clients crying tears of joy and relief. We cried with them.

    Thanks to Stock Yards Bank’s perseverance, we managed to turn our application-to-funding time down to less than 24 hours. While many other banks struggled and continue to struggle with the process, we mastered the mayhem of the moment. I give credit to our leadership, my colleagues, and to our loyal (and patient) clients for how well our bank has executed the PPP process.

    I could be critical of other banks and identify the breakdowns in their processes, but that isn’t the purpose of my writing. I have heard the horror stories from you. I have read the blogs and other articles where business owners were told their loans were “in process,” only to get an email weeks later saying, “Sorry, better luck next time.”  If this is what you experienced, and you were told you weren’t getting the funds to keep your business on life support during a global pandemic, answer this thought-provoking question:

    “How did this experience make you FEEL?”

    If you spent weeks, or even months, chasing down the slightest bit of attention from your bank, begging for an update on the status of a loan that you didn’t get because they “were missing paperwork,” they had “incorrect information,” or some other vague reason, ask yourself, why do they still have your hard-earned money? Have they earned it? Is this your own business model? Have you ever treated a customer so poorly and expected them to stay?  If so, I have some recommendations on customer loyalty training for you and your team.

    The reality is many folks see banking as a commodity and settle for mediocrity. What we’ve all experienced over the last several months of the pandemic and PPP program is that personal relationships with bankers and other key advisors are more important than ever.

    Even before the PPP process, it is absolutely critical to the health and growth of any stage business to have an honest and active relationship with a banker. You want a banker as part of your team. You want to actively involve your banker in conversations that include planning for your business. As your business enters different stages (start-up, growth, maturity, continuity), you have different needs that your bank can provide you that you may not be thinking about. That’s perfectly okay. I never expect a business owner to be a banking expert.  It’s your job to go be the expert at what you do. It’s our job to be the financial expert and support you and help provide solutions along the way. Great banking relationship managers will also partner with your CPA, attorneys, and other advisors to ensure you are supported wholly, and that we are all working as one to support the health of your business.

    So, let me ask the question again…. How does that make you FEEL?

    Are you getting this kind of knee-to-knee experience with your current bank? If you applied for a federal PPP loan, did you receive daily update phone call/text/emails during the application process? Were updates delivered by a person with a genuine interest in your situation who calmed your fears and anxieties? Do you have a banker now who you trust and who really KNOWS your business?  Did reading that sentence make you think no one knows me at my bank?

    If you answered no to any of these questions, maybe it’s time for you to take a step back and decide whether you should be with a bank that knows you better. After all, you’ve likely spent years building your company and pandemic or no pandemic, you want to continue building it. Shouldn’t you be with a bank that knows your story, shares your vision and can support it?

    I’m very proud of how Stock Yards Bank & Trust handled the PPP loan process and have received nothing but praise and thanks from our clients. Looking back, this was just “what we do.”  We show up for our clients every day. We talk to our clients every day. We communicate. We calm fears. We celebrate successes.  Every day. That’s how we do business. That’s just us.

    If the pandemic and economic upheaval have taught us anything it’s that nothing can replace personal relationships. Life is too short and sometimes too hard to go it alone. I’m not asking you to choose Stock Yards as your banker, I’m asking you to choose you.  You’ve worked hard to own your own company. You deserve to have a bank that’s there with you. Every day, good and bad, without fail.

    Denelle Key is a relationship manager in Private Banking for Stock Yards Bank & Trust. As such, she has worked round-the-clock throughout the pandemic in support of her clients. If you have questions about PPP or other banking matters, reach Denelle at denelle.key@syb.com or 317-238-2806.

  • Expert Insight from Pearl Pathways: Working with the FDA during COVID-19

    VisionTech Partners is pleased to offer this Expert Insight from our sponsor Pearl Pathways.

    The United States Food and Drug Administration has taken a beating in recent months over its role in the country’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 virus. The concerns have been focused on two basic areas:

    • Delays in approving tests for use in diagnosing the virus and for determining whether individuals have produced antibodies to the virus; and,
    • Confusion about the safety and efficacy of drugs like chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine touted as potential treatments for the virus.
    Author: Bob Seevers, PhD, Pearl Pathways

    Full disclosure time: I am ex-FDA. I spent nearly a decade with the agency, working in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) as a chemistry reviewer and team leader. At the same time, I recognize from my own experience, that FDA is not designed to be nimble or to make fast decisions. The whole history of FDA is a long series of reactions to public health disasters, after the fact.

    The modern era of the FDA was created in 1906 through the passing of the Federal Food and Drugs Act. This was largely a reaction to the public outcry following publication of Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle—an exposé revealing the abominable conditions in the American meatpacking industry. The 1906 act was strengthened by further Congressional action in 1938 as a result of disasters such as Elixir Sulfanilamide (the poorly soluble drug was formulated in ethylene glycol, which is poisonous, and resulted in a number of deaths). Modern FDA regulations followed the thalidomide problem in which a drug given to pregnant women resulted in serious birth defects. Simply put, FDA has a history and a basis in law that causes it to be reactive rather than proactive.

    And yet, if you follow the FDA as I do, you will have seen almost daily bulletins showing the agency’s flexibility in everything from how clinical trials are conducted and records kept in an era of social distancing, to temporary use of portable cryogenic containers not in regulatory compliance.1  FDA has even created a Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP), which is intended to use “every available method to move new treatments to patients as quickly as possible, while at the same time finding out whether they are helpful or harmful.”2

    The same thing is true for medical devices. “On February 4, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) determined that there is a public health emergency and that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostics for detection and/or diagnosis of the novel coronavirus.”3

    So, what does this mean for you? How do these changes, special programs, and new flexibility at FDA have an impact on your development program?  Do you have a product, whether device or drug, that needs to get to patients as fast as possible to help in this crisis? We keep track of the changes at FDA, which are coming daily. And we have years of practice in finding ways to make things work with them.

    In an effort to advance the life science community’s response to the pandemic, Pearl Pathways is offering two free consulting hours to companies developing diagnostics, drugs, or devices intended to diagnose or treat patients with COVID-19. These free consulting hours also apply to researchers who are conducting studies to better understand the virus. Contact Pearl Pathways today to schedule your free consultation.

    Citations

    1 FDA Code of Federal Regulations’ 21 CFR 211.94(e)(1) for oxygen and nitrogen during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency – https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/policy-temporary-use-portable-cryogenic-containers-not-compliance-21-cfr-21194e1-oxygen-and-nitrogen

    2 Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) – https://www.fda.gov/drugs/coronavirus-covid-19-drugs/coronavirus-treatment-acceleration-program-ctap

    3 Medical Devices and the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic – https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/emergency-situations-medical-devices/medical-devices-and-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic

     

  • Meet June Pitch Company #2, Zive, Creator of Kiwi for G Suite

    When I first spoke with Eric Shashoua, CEO and founder of Zive, he shared a mind-blowing number: there are 1.5 billion Gmail accounts. When Google launched the free email service in 2004, it was a simple application. But as Gmail’s popularity grew and Google continued to embellish it, it became increasingly frustrating for users in the browser. Where there’s a problem, there’s a solution. And where there’s a large market, there’s a motivated entrepreneur. Thus Eric and the Zive team set out to make Gmail user friendly again. The result is the hugely successful Kiwi for Gmail and now Kiwi for G Suite, applications that have grown rapidly across Google’s client base. What the company’s doing next will be even stronger. It’s a great story that Eric will share when he presents at next week’s VisionTech Angels Virtual Pitch Events, Tuesday and Thursday, June 23 and 25. Here’s a preview.

    BP: Zive is not your first startup rodeo.
    ES: No, I actually started my first company while a senior at Brown University. I got an idea from the technology used for sleep studies, thinking it had a consumer application. I raised $14 million in angel and VC funding and launched the Zeo Personal Sleep Coach in the U.S. and Europe. The experience taught me two important lessons. First, it cost us $5 million to create and bring the Zeo device to market, so I became very jealous of software companies that need a fraction of that amount to commercialize. Second, in terms of attractiveness to potential acquirers, Zeo was something of a square peg in a round hole. We weren’t entirely healthcare nor were we entirely a consumer electronic product, which made an acquisition difficult. I left Zeo to start an enterprise software company, Zive, which created Kiwi.

    BP: Where did the name Kiwi come from?
    ES: Another lesson learned from my previous company. We’re focused on enterprise software, but I believe that enterprise users like to be treated like consumers. Consumers like brands that are non-threatening, even cute, and easy to remember. Email is stressful for people. The name Kiwi, coupled with our colors and the brand illustrations we use in our applications, is childlike, small, and harmless, and subtly conveys the idea that we make Gmail and G Suite easier.

    BP: Microsoft Office has been the 800-pound gorilla for years. Why are people and enterprises moving to Gmail and G Suite – and on to Kiwi?
    ES: A couple of reasons. Google is cheaper than Microsoft Office, and millennials who grew up on Gmail are now entering management and prefer Google. However, Google’s biggest strength lies in it being very good at enabling people to collaborate. Microsoft’s taken years to catch up to Google, creating better collaboration features, Microsoft Teams, and even a SaaS email model for enterprise. Microsoft under Nadella is quite a different beast than under Ballmer, but Google’s pressing their advantages hard.

    BP: Explain Kiwi and the problem you’re solving.
    ES: First let me say as a millennial, I’ve always loved Gmail. But over the years, it went from a simple application to a much more complex tool that’s harder to use. In 2013, my co-founder Ryan Shetley and I began experimenting with ways to take Gmail out of the web browser and onto desktops to make it easier to use and enhance it with productivity features. We launched our first, basic version of Kiwi for Gmail on the Mac in 2015, followed by the Windows version. We gradually expanded our offering to Kiwi for G Suite, which is the enterprise version, which makes all of the Google apps like Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Calendar work together seamlessly in a full-featured desktop office productivity suite. We’ve also integrated plugins like Zoom, Webex, BlueJeans for video conferencing plus others—things people can’t live without these days.

    Ben Pidgeon, Executive Director, VisionTech

    BP: Speaking of that, how has the pandemic affected Kiwi?
    ES: It’s the direct opposite of what many companies are facing. Kiwi is built around remote work just like Zoom, Citrix and Slack. Throughout the economic lockdown and people working at home, we’ve experienced accelerated growth. Companies are moving to G Suite and we make it easier for their users. We are very well positioned in this space.

    BP: What’s the response been to Kiwi?
    ES: Users love it, and we’ve grown to have users across the map in large companies like Salesforce, Netflix, RedHat, and Priceline. Kiwi for Gmail is one of the highest rated apps on the Mac App Store with five stars based on thousands of ratings. It’s our Trojan horse for getting into enterprise. Users who buy Kiwi do so because it saves them a lot of time doing their work – it’s outside the browser, it works well, it’s easier to manage multiple Gmail accounts, and has a number of features like Cloud Search and Focus Filters that make it much easier to find the emails and documents users are trying to work on. We’ve also gotten great press from Forbes, Inc., The Wall Street Journal, eWeek, TechRadar, and others. People say, “This is something Google should have thought of.” That’s an exciting thing to hear, because we admire Google’s product managers for really sticking it to the status quo and forcing this industry to evolve.

     BP: Tell me about your leadership team.
    ES: We have a great team: my co-founder Ryan Shetley is our CTO with extensive experience in Chromium and browser frameworks; Eric Wanta, our CMO, has deep experience in B2B marketing; and Marc Elia, who’s taken other startups from launch to exit, heads up our business development. A massive development is that Christopher Fong just joined us as an advisor to Kiwi as well. Chris spent 8.5 years with Google, much of it in business development and strategic partnerships. He is also the founder of Xoogler.co, a community of 8,500 former Google employees who are focused on startups.

    BP: What are you using this raise for?
    ES: We’re growing, and we have a number of immediate opportunities for new Kiwi for G Suite functionality that will accelerate our growth. Unrelated to Google, we also have an entirely new product that we’re building which will be much larger than our Google business. We plan to expand our team to pursue both of these things in parallel, as well as invest in sales and marketing efforts. The coronavirus-driven shift to remote work has left Zive in a very strong financial position. Our round is nearly full, and VisionTech Angels is likely the last angel investment group we’ll meet with.

    BP: Last question: Why should VisionTech Angels invest in Kiwi?
    ES: There are two reasons, neither of which I can say much about publicly. Our successes over the past nine months have led to us building a strong relationship with Google. What’s coming beyond Kiwi for G Suite will multiply our potential acquirers, and be a lot of fun for us and our investors. We’re growing rapidly, we have good relationships within the industry, the market timing is with us, we’ve validated our exit thesis, and are well positioned to exit. We can elaborate more on this when we meet.

    BP: Sounds great! We’re looking forward to the pitch events.
    ES: I’ll be there—on Kiwi for G Suite of course.

    To learn more about Kiwi for G Suite, visit their website. VisionTech Angels’ June Virtual Pitch Events are open to our members and accredited investors interested in joining our group. To reserve your spot, email Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com.

  • Meet June Pitch Company #1, Resonado, Redefining the Shape of Sound

    Who remembers when the bigger the audio speakers, the bigger the sound? I’m sure a few of our VisionTech Angels members remember those days. Today; however, small is better, but surprising, sound quality has not kept pace with shrinking sizes – until now. That’s the case Brian Youngil Cho, CEO of Resonado, will make when he presents during our Virtual Pitch Events on Tuesday, June 23 at 6 pm and  Thursday, June 25 at 6 pm. Brian and co-founders Peter Moeckel and Erikc Perez-Perez started the speaker technology company while undergrads at the University of Notre Dame. With two major licensing deals of their Flat Core Speaker™ technology under their belt and three national product launches set for 2020, Resonado is not only redefining the shape of sound, they are poised to be a major disrupter in consumer electronics and vehicle audio markets. I hope you enjoy this sneak preview!

    Brian Youngil Cho

    BP: Brian, I have to admit, we haven’t seen too many pitch companies out of Notre Dame. What’s your story?
    BYC: I had no intention of becoming an entrepreneur until I was a student at Notre Dame and entered the IDEA Center’s McCloskey New Venture Competition in 2017 with my friend Peter Moeckel (Resonado co-founder). We didn’t win, but we fell in love with being entrepreneurs. Instead of giving up, we began working on our now patented Flat Core Speaker™ (FCS™) technology, a project I shared with my father while a teenager in South Korea. It had never been commercialized, in part because of a lack of market demand, but with the advent of flat-screen TVs and smart phones, tablets and other speaker-enabled micro devices, the time was right. Peter and I recruited two more Notre Dame students, Erikc Perez-Perez and Christian Femrite, and my father as chief technology officer to our team. Resonado was born.

    We competed in the 2018 McCloskey Competition and came up short. Our breakthrough came the next year when we took second place in the Rice University Business Plan Competition, the world’s largest student startup competition, and tied for first in Notre Dame’s McCloskey Competition. The publicity from these wins and from announcing our brand as the Official Sound Partner of Notre Dame Athletics fueled our first pre-seed, $1 million investment round that closed in 2019. Since then we’ve all graduated and are investing 100 percent of ourselves in Resonado.

                                         Resonado Flat Core vs  Cone Speaker

    BP: Explain your Flat Core Speaker™ technology and the problem it solves for potential customers?
    BYC: Let me start with the problem. Conical speakers have been the audio industry standard for more than a century. Speaker technology hasn’t kept pace with modern devices that are smaller, flatter or both, and audio quality has suffered as a result. It’s a significant issue across a wide swath of industries, from consumer electronics and home theater to automotive and recreational vehicles and even aerospace.

    What Resonado has done is re-think the core mechanism in audio speakers to ensure superior audio from today’s devices. The result is our FCS™ technology, a patented electrodynamic speaker transducer designed with dual parallel bar magnets and a planar voice coil mounted perpendicularly to a flat “racetrack” diaphragm. The speaker transducer’s lightweight, thin structure enables unprecedented design innovation with exceptional sound quality. The flexibility of our flat speaker structure is unleashing creativity among product designers and engineers who have been held back by the limitations of the conventional cone speaker structure.

    BP: Who are your ideal customers and what is the market size?
    BYC: We provide speaker transducer technology to both brands and manufacturers; essentially any company that produces products with speakers. Wireless audio devices, including wearables and home audio, is the leading sector, with a market value estimated to reach $134.2 billion by 2025. The automotive sound system market is expected to be $7 billion by 2026 and that doesn’t include recreational vehicles (RVs) and boats. There are many other commercial and military applications we can tap into in the future.

    BP: What is your business model?
    BYC: Licensing the technology to manufacturers and brands and selling FCS-based products. We currently have one commercially available product, our flagship Resonado Driver, the Neo Mid 5. A 5″ x 1.5″ x 1” mid-range driver designed with premium advanced materials, it’s the embodiment of our FCS technology. We  also have two more products that we’ve begun to demo to prospective clients that will soon be available. The first is our first Resonado Subwoofer, the Neo Sub 8, which implements our FCS DualCore™ technology. The second is our first Resonado Microspeaker, the Intra 60, designed with FCS Micro™ technology. Brands and manufacturers can either buy these speaker drivers outright, or license the technology we’ve developed to make them possible.

                               Ben Pidgeon

    BP: What is your current traction?
    BYC: Strong and getting stronger. We’ve just signed our biggest licensing agreement to date with a major player in the global audio industry. We also have three products scheduled to launch by the end of the year. The first is with a leading RV company. We’ve designed custom Resonado speakers from the ground up for a specific model that will later come standard in future models. The deal will be formally announced next quarter. We’re currently prototyping a home speaker product that’s only possible with FCS technology. It’s on track to launch at Costco for the Christmas season. The third is a soundbar product that is also on track to launch during the Christmas holidays at Best Buy.

    BP: Do you have any competitors?
    BYC: Although we’re not the first company to introduce thin speakers using an alternative structure to conventional conical speakers, we do believe that we are the first company to introduce thin speakers that are fully scalable both structurally and financially, without compromising sound quality. We compete against other speaker companies, but with Resonado as the sole owner of our patented FCS technology, our product is thoroughly differentiated from competitors in the space.

    BP: What kind of IP protection do you have?
    BYC: IP protection is a critical part of our strategy. We currently have two global patents issued and five pending. Our patent portfolio is managed by DLA Piper, a firm with international recognition in IP practice. Kudos also go to my father and Resonado’s Chief Technology Officer, LT Cho. He’s a former engineering executive at LG and has led successful startup exits, including an IPO, in South Korea. His expertise has directed our IP protection efforts.

    BP: How big is this investment round and how will funds be used?
    BYC: We opened a $500,000 investment round early in 2020 and have now raised over $700,000. While we’re oversubscribed, we’re continuing the raise for two reasons. We have an SBIR-II in play and the government will match what we raise through private investors. Also, having money in the bank is extremely helping at this early stage. We have other investors interested in this round, which we expect to close with our pitch to VisionTech Angels as the last round invitation. The funds will be used to address customer demands, continue to strengthen our IP protection, and support R&D, market readiness and manufacturing. We also have a new application of the FCS technology in the pipeline and have customers lining up for a 2021 launch.

    BP: You’ve recently expanded your leadership team. Who did you add?
    BYC: Earlier this year we hired Daniel F. Bodine as Resonado’s vice president of business development. Dan has more than 25 years of experience as an executive, mostly in consumer electronics. He’s previously handled accounts such as BMW, Intel, Amazon, and Sony. His addition to the team had an immediate impact to our entire business; we’re looking forward to a bright future with Dan in charge of sales.

    BP: Why should VisionTech Angels invest in your company?
    BYC: People in the audio industry are surprised at how quickly we’ve come in such a short time and with a small team; that’s a testament not only to our passion and work ethic, but to our technology, which is truly disruptive. Beyond that, after spending several months in Silicon Valley, we explicitly made the decision to remain headquartered to Indiana after graduating from Notre Dame with the hopes of becoming the Midwest’s first unicorn in our industry. The talent is here, and the region welcomes entrepreneurs and is willing to open doors for us. We’re honored that VisionTech Angels has invited us to pitch.

    Second, we aspire to build on our relationship with our alma mater. Partnerships between corporations and universities have proven to be valuable in many ways by sharing resources, technologies and talent, which tend to result in benefits not only for the institution and corporation, but also for the community. In our industry specifically, Bose’s relationship with MIT, where founder Amir Bose was a professor, has set a standard for what such a relationship could produce.

    To learn more about Resonado, visit their website. VisionTech Angels’ June Virtual Pitch Events are open to our members and accredited investors interested in joining our group. To reserve your spot, email Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com.

     

  • VisionTech Portfolio Company React Mobile Receives $6M Investment via Strategic Partner Brady Corp.

    VisionTech Angels is pleased to share the following news on our portfolio company, React Mobile.

    SEATTLE (May 26, 2020) —React Mobile, a robust, open, cost effective and flexible panic button safety platform, today announces it has raised $6 million through a new strategic partnership with publicly traded Brady Corporation (NYSE:BRC). Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisc., and founded in 1914, Brady is one of the oldest and most successful privately controlled family businesses in the U.S. The company manufactures solutions that identify and protect people, products and places. Together, React Mobile and Brady will jointly develop new solutions that help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance to further their shared mission of promoting employee safety everywhere.

    Robb Monkman, CEO, React Mobile

    “This strategic partnership with Brady is a force multiplier that will enable React Mobile products to reach new verticals where our safety solutions can make a massive impact towards making the world a safer place,” said Robb Monkman, React Mobile CEO. “As we leverage Brady’s infrastructure, our installation capabilities will grow exponentially, from installing 30 sites per month to more than 100. This investment solidifies our financial stability and enables us to support hundreds of enterprise customers worldwide.”

    React Mobile’s best-in-class safety platform helps businesses keep their employees safe. Their system enables management to deploy resources to the exact location of an emergency within seconds of an alert, getting help to where it is needed fast. The React Mobile platform utilizes GPS geolocation and Bluetooth® beacon technology to provide unparalleled accuracy to locate an employee in distress. The company has the largest hotel customer base of any panic button technology.

    Brady Corp. offers a unique combination of software, services, and integrated solutions designed to help businesses build, manage and maintain world-class safety and asset management programs. Brady’s products include high-performance labels, signs, safety devices, printing systems and software. The company has a diverse customer base in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, medical, aerospace and a variety of other industries.

    “Brady and React Mobile are synergistic companies that build solutions for a smarter, connected world,” said Michael Nauman, Brady President and CEO. “Like Brady, React Mobile’s panic button solutions outperform their competition, and both companies are dedicated to solving customers’ problems and making their operations more efficient and effective. Our financial support combined with React Mobile’s hospitality domain expertise will enable each to execute their visions and exceed growth projections more rapidly and broadly. This strategic partnership is truly a win-win.”

    About Brady Corporation

    Brady Corp. is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect people, products and places. Brady’s products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels, signs, safety devices, printing systems and software. Founded in 1914, the Company has a diverse customer base in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, medical, aerospace and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as of July 31, 2019, employed approximately 6,100 people in its worldwide businesses. Brady’s fiscal 2019 sales were approximately $1.16 billion. Brady stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRC. More information is available on the Internet at www.bradycorp.com.

    About React Mobile

    Founded in 2013, React Mobile is a global leader in providing panic button solutions for hotels. Our best in class hospitality safety platform helps hotels keep their employees safe. The React Mobile system is an open and flexible platform that allows management to deploy response resources to the exact location of an emergency within seconds of an alert, getting help to where it’s needed anywhere on or off property. In an emergency quick response times are essential and React Mobile gives you the tools to react fast. For more information, visit www.reactmobile.com.

  • Hippo Manager Joins VisionTech Angels’ Inaugural Virtual Pitch Event on April 30

    Working from home these past few weeks has been a challenge, particularly when you have two parents who work and three small kids you’re trying to keep on track with school lessons. The one family member who has been very happy with the new routine is our dog. He’s loved the extra attention. Our pets are big business. According to a survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association, 67% of all Americans have a dog. And those dogs – plus, cats, horses, hamsters and other pets – need regular veterinary care. Sam Razor, the co-founder and CEO of Hippo Manager, is helping vets across the country run their practices more efficient and profitably. He is presenting at VisionTech Angels’ Virtual Pitch Event Thursday, April 30 at 6 pm. I hope you enjoy this sneak preview!

    Sam Razor, Hippo Manager

    BP: Tell me a little about how Hippo Manager and the market problem being solved.
    SR: Veterinary practices are often woefully behind in technology – 77% are operating on 15-year-old plus server-based technology, and there are a surprising number still working from paper. They haven’t had the influence from insurance companies to standardize and adopt new technologies like the human medical field. Not only does this gap in technology create inefficiencies, but also causes lost revenue for the practices because services and inventory supplies aren’t captured and billed, and now there’s the added pressure of operating safely during a pandemic.

    Hippo Manager is the largest independently-owned, cloud-based, veterinary practice management software provider in the United States. We provide more features than any product on the market including SOAP notes/medical records, patient scheduler, reporting, point-of-sale, inventory, reminders, payment processing, reporting, and more.

    BP: What is your value proposition?
    SR: Our cloud-based product means that veterinarians and staff can access medical records and files from anywhere and anytime, which has been tremendously helpful for telehealth, but also in normal day-to-day operations by allowing the flexibility to do curbside check-ins and in-exam room checkouts, both of which are is quickly becoming the best standard of care for patient experience.

    Hippo Manager is priced in a straightforward way and at a substantially lower price than the total cost of ownership of a server-based options. Hippo Manager is very easy to use, and we also offer unlimited support and unlimited training, which is unique in our industry. We offer this level of service because it’s just good business for our customers to keep their new staff up-to-date on their daily tools. Our practices see 22% growth in revenue year-over-year versus industry growth of 4%. This is attributable to correctly captured charges, time savings, and better reporting to find growth areas.

    BP: What’s your revenue model?
    SR: We’re a software as a service with addition add-on features creating additional revenue streams.

    BP: Who are your competitors?
    SR: Our primary competition is server-based legacy systems. Many veterinarians adopted server-based solutions 10 to 20 years ago. Those systems are now obsolete. The companies selling them are not software companies so these systems are not being updated.

    Ben Pidgeon, Executive Director, VisionTech

    BP: What are the barriers to adoption?
    SR: Historically, veterinary practices have been slow to adopt technology. Those with antiquated legacy systems aare reluctant to change to a new system because the old systems were so difficult to learn. They want to avoid repeating that experience. While Hippo is very easy to use, it does require upfront training of the vets and their staff. Some of their routines will change, too. People can be resistant to change, especially in busy practices.

    To counter this, we have an online learning lab with more than 90 short video tutorials. We also do online training and Q&A sessions to answer questions in real time, and recently launched new coaching services to help veterinarians with the change management challenges that go beyond learning how the software works. Once people start using Hippo and seeing the financial impact on their practice, they don’t want to go back.

    BP: What is your traction to date?
    SR: Very good! We have 400 practices on the platform, representing 6,000 users. Of these, 85% are small animal practices. The other 15% are large animal practices for horses and other livestock. We’re a godsend for them as they typically see their patients at farms and they can login into our cloud-enabled platform from an ipad in their truck instead of doing hours of paperwork after returning to their office.

    BP: How big is this investment round and how do you plan to use the funds?
    SR: This is a $750,000 raise. We plan to use it to scale our sales and marketing efforts, including developing channel sales. There will also be some additional product development.

    BP: How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your business?
    SR: Veterinary clinics are considered essential business so unlike other businesses they remain open and treating patients. However, they’re trying to minimize as much direct contact as possible. Hippo can help with curbside check-in, we allow pet owners to pay by text and email rather than credit card, checks or cash, and we also integrate with telemedicine platforms where people can text in videos of their pet for the vet to determine if the pet needs to come in immediately or at a later time. And, thanks to being a cloud solution, vets can login from home, continue to work, and take calls if needed rather than all staff being in the office. Hippo’s features challenge the status quo of old processes and with the pandemic, people are taking a closer look at our solution.

    BP: Why should VisionTech Angels invest in your company?
    SR: Three reasons. We’re located in “flyover country” and are a high performing company with a practical valuation. Our business model is proven and with fuel, we believe our growing customer base will take off. Finally, the pandemic has underscored the need for cloud-enabled solutions that enable veterinary practices to stay open, treat their patients, mitigate risks, and lastly, do more of the job remotely.

    BP: Last question: do you have a dog?
    SR: I do. My family has a rescue dog named George Harrison who appears to be a Corgi-Dachshund mix and two cats. I have never met a dog like George; he’s silly, loves to wrestle, fetch and play. Great dog!

    To learn more about Hippo Manager, visit their website. VisionTech Angels’ April 30 Virtual Pitch Event is open to our members and accredited investors interested in joining our group. To reserve your spot, email Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com.

  • Moralez to Introduce Boomerang Ventures at VisionTech’s Virtual Pitch Night April 30

    Oscar Moralez, founder and managing director of VisionTech Partners I VisionTech Angels, believes the nation’s venture capital (VC) community is missing out on great opportunities in the Midwest based on some impressive statistics:

    • 20 top-rated global research universities are located in Midwestern states – more than any other region.
    • 26% or U.S. corporate and university patents originate here.
    • 24% of National Institutes of Health-funded research is conducted in the Midwest.
    • 33% of Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in America’s heartland.
    • 33% of all U.S. STEM college grads are live and work here.

    And yet, VCs routinely overlook the Midwest. Less than 5% of venture capital is invested in Midwest startups.

    Not one to sit on the sidelines and accept the status quo, Moralez has launched Boomerang Ventures, a Midwest-focused, early growth stage venture capital fund headquartered in Indianapolis. Moralez will introduce Boomerang, which he describes as an investment fund by, for and with entrepreneurs, at VisionTech Angels’ Virtual Pitch Event on Thursday, April 30 starting at 6 pm on Zoom.

    His presentation will follow the investor pitches of Haley Keith, CEO of MITO Materials, and Jana Fuelworth, president of analytic.li.

    One of the main reasons for launching Boomerang is that while VCs routinely snub the Midwest, the region has the highest MOIC (multiple on invested capital) in the nation. “Our MOIC is 5.6x and that’s largely driven by three things: capital efficient companies, realistic valuations and faster profitability,” says Moralez. “There is far better value for investors in the Midwest than the Coasts and places like Austin where startups tend to have high valuations in relation to where they are.”

    He adds, “I thought, if VCs don’t want to come to the Midwest, we should start our own fund. Enter Boomerang Ventures.”

    The firm is currently raising its first fund with a target of $20 million. While VisionTech Angels’ investment sweet spot is $200,000-500,000 per deal, Boomerang will have the resources to invest $500,000 to $2 million in Series Seed and Series A deals. They may invest in some of the same deals and enhance each other’s deal flow. However, VisionTech Angels and Boomerang Ventures are completely separate entities.

    “Boomerang Ventures has its own governance structure and is raising money from different people,” Moralez explains. “There’s also the fundamental difference in that Boomerang invests as a fund rather than as a group of individual investors, which is the angel model.

    Still, the synergies between the groups will have a positive impact on Indiana’s and the Midwest’s startup ecosystem. VisionTech portfolio companies starting to scale will have a new funding source as Boomerang is positioned for larger follow-on rounds. Boomerang will also attract different investment opportunities, focusing on tech-enabled companies that thrive in the Midwest such as agriculture, life sciences, logistics, and manufacturing. When Boomerang companies do exit, the goal is to keep the proceeds in the Midwest.

    “Boomerang has a very agrarian mindset; we want to plant seeds that grow successful companies,” Moralez says. “When a Midwest venture firm invests in Midwest companies, a very fertile environment for innovation and growth, we’ll all prosper.”

    Make plans to join VisionTech Angels’ Virtual Pitch Event Thursday, April 30 starting at 6 pm and featuring investor pitches from two Indianapolis-based companies, MITO Materials and analytic.li. Oscar Moralez’ presentation on Boomerang Ventures will follow. The event, powered by Zoom, is open to VisionTech Angels members and accredited investors interested in joining the group. To register, please contact VisionTech Executive Director Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com

     

     

     

     

     

  • MITO Materials Kicks Off VisionTech Angels’ Inaugural Virtual Pitch Event April 30

    If you’ve been looking for a bright spot during the COVID-19 lockdown, I’ve got two for you. VisionTech Angels has decided not to cancel our April pitch event. Instead, we’ve replaced our five-city, two-state tour with a single on-line pitch event on Thursday, April 30. Thank you Zoom! The second bright spot is that Haley Marie Keith, co-founder and CEO of MITO Materials, has accepted our invitation to pitch. She joins Jana Fuelberth, president and co-founder of analytic.li, on our virtual pitch roster. MITO’s lead product is a proprietary chemical additive that is proving to be a hot commodity among end users as well as suppliers of specialty chemicals. Since relocating to Indiana from Oklahoma seven months ago, MITO has doubled its customer pipeline. If you think that’s impressive, you’ll want to read our entire conversation to see what’s next for this dynamic startup.

    Haley Keith, CEO, MITO Materials

    BP: Tell me about how MITO Materials came to be and the market problem you’re solving.
    HK: I grew up in Elkhart, Indiana, the RV capital of the world. I remember hearing horror stories on sidewall delamination where the exterior fiberglass layer of the RV separates from the wood or metal beneath, forming bubbles and creases. It’s a huge industry problem. During the first class of my MBA at Oklahoma State University, I was introduced to what became MITO’s lead technology and immediately recognized it as a solution for RV manufacturers. As part of my MBA, I worked with the students behind the technology on a business plan. During the market discovery phase, I was happily surprised to find out it had great potential across multiple industries. So my co-founder and I licensed the patents from Oklahoma State University to commercialize the technology and launch a company.

     BP: What is your unique value proposition?
    HK: MITO manufactures chemical additives for polymer composite manufacturers seeking superior performance, flexibility and durability. Our flagship product enhances toughness up to 60 percent and increases glass transition temperatures in coatings, sealants, adhesives, and elastomers (CASE) applications and fiber-reinforced thermoplastics. These attributes are extremely important to industries that are looking to lightweight their products or components within their products without sacrificing performance. This includes the aerospace, automotive, boat, tractor-trailer, and wind turbine industries. There’s also a sustainability component. Light weighting reduces fuel consumption, which in turn reduces carbon emissions.

    BP: What types of companies and industries are MITO’s ideal customers?
    HK: Right now, our ideal customers are composite manufacturers or material compounders. These companies have immediate needs for enhanced material performance and have the ability to move quickly. In the long term, our ideal customers are the larger chemical and specialty formulators because the volumes are exponentially higher. At this time, MITO’s pipeline includes customers from our benchmark and long-term markets, five of which are large multi-national specialty chemical companies, similar to Henkel, Dow and PPG.

    Ben Pidgeon, Executive Director, VisionTech

    BP: What does the competitive landscape look like?
    HK: I know investors don’t like startups to say they’re unique, but our hybrid additive technology is truly novel and is protected by two patents, with additional patents pending. There are competing technologies such as carbon nanotubes and nanosilica used primarily in CASE applications. Here’s the difference: MITO additives deliver more toughness using 400 times less material than our leading competitor. Our product is also non-toxic, safe to handle, and requires no changes to existing manufacturing processes common to the industries we serve.

    BP: How does this impact pricing and your revenue model?
    HK: Good question! MITO’s pricing is volume based and thus is higher than competing technologies. However, because customers use so much less of our product to achieve the desired performance attributes, the price differential is a wash. Some industries do have cost sensitivities so in addition to selling direct to customers; we’re also looking at licensing opportunities.

    BP: What is MITO’s traction to date?
    HK: Since relocating to Indianapolis from Oklahoma in September 2019, we’ve experienced exponential growth as companies that can benefit from our product are in our backyard instead of across the country. Our pipeline doubled based on our new Midwest headquarters and our Techstars experience through The Heritage Group that plugged us into Techstars’ global network. In all, our sales pipeline has 20 potential customers in different stages of the pilot sales funnel. What’s remarkable is these customers were acquired with no direct marketing expenses or targeted business development efforts.

    BP: How big is this investment round and how will funds be used?
    HK: We are currently raising $500,000 on a convertible note. These funds will be used in three key areas: business development, product development and integration, and general and administrative expenses. A top priority is completing pilot projects with five customers and once we secure market validation, converting them to recurring customers and using the experience to build a repeatable, scalable marketing strategy. From a product development standpoint, we are working with our contract manufacturer, Monument Chemical, to demonstrate we can manufacture to scale. Of course, some of the funds will be directed to filing provisional patents on new discoveries. A small portion with support our operations in Indiana and Oklahoma, where our lab resides.

    BP: The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cause sweeping changes across industries. How does MITO fit in the new normal? HK: We’re already seeing national dialogue focus on the need to bring more manufacturing home to America. The demand for innovation in product and process design as well as materials will be greater than ever. This will create new opportunities for advanced materials such as MITO’s. Since the COVID-19 lockdown began, we’ve shifted our focus on internal components of our company such as pursuing additional patents and applying for grant funding to evaluate our material in recycled thermoplastics, personal protection equipment and potentially medical equipment, which could benefit from our product’s antimicrobial properties. Raising money now means that we can move forward with these applications faster.

    BP: Why should VisionTech Angels invest in your company?
    HK: There are three reasons for investing in MITO now. First, the National Science Foundation has committed to matching dollars in this round with an additional $500,000 in nondilutive funding to support R&D. Second, we have a straightforward cap table. The majority of our funding to date has come from grants totaling $2 million. Finally, MITO is well positioned in our market. Our technology works and we have new variations in our pipeline that offer as much, or more value to specific industries. The fact that we have solid traction with customers, channel partners, and suppliers is a testament to this opportunity.

    To learn more about MITO Materials visit their website. VisionTech Angels’ April 30 Virtual Pitch Event is open to our members and accredited investors interested in joining our group. Register for the event by emailing Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com.

     

  • COVID-19 Update: VisionTech Replaces April Pitch Week with Online Pitch Event

    INDIANAPOLIS (April 3, 2020) – – Citing the need to protect the health of member investors and respect for the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines on social distancing, VisionTech Angels has made the decision to replace its regular five-city “pitch week” scheduled for April 27-30 with a single virtual event. The new event, during which two startup companies will make their “pitch” for angel investors’ dollars, is set for Thursday, April 30, starting at 6 p.m.

    VisionTech Angels Executive Director Ben Pidgeon says the decision to protect the well-being of the group’s 130 members and presenters via a virtual event was the right thing to do and has a silver lining. “VisionTech Angels has five distinct chapters with members spread across Indiana and Ohio. Given this, we rarely convene as one group. The April virtual pitch event gets all of us together in one place to experience the presentations and discuss the investment opportunities in real time. Given the convenience of attending in the comfort of one’s own home, I’m hopeful most if not all of our members and guests will participate.”

    The Zoom meeting format will mirror VisionTech Angels’ traditional pitch events. The CEO or president of each startup company will be given 30 minutes to present and take questions. Each presentation will be followed by 15 minutes of investor discussion.

    Pidgeon says the leaders of two Indianapolis-based startup companies, Jana Fuelberth of analytic.li and Haley Marie Keith of MitoMaterials, have accepted invitations to pitch. Analytic.li is a workforce optimization company that increases employers’ decision velocity to drive productivity, increase profitability and improve employees’ work experience. Mito Materials creates chemical additives for polymer composite manufacturers seeking superior performance, flexibility and durability.

    The virtual event will also include an introduction to Boomerang Ventures, an Indianapolis-based venture capital firm focused on Midwest startups and investors founded by Oscar Moralez. Moralez is also the managing director of VisionTech Partners.

    VisionTech Angels’ Virtual Pitch Event on April 30 is open to VisionTech Angels members and to accredited investors who would like to join the group. Those interested in participating must RSVP in advance here. Learn more on VisionTech Angels here.

  • What the Corona Virus Means to Us

    What the Corona Virus Means to Us

    Like everyone else this past week, I’ve been stunned by the breadth and speed of disruption wrought by the corona virus.

    The stock market’s slide. The cancellation of events like SXSW. School closures. Shutdowns of Apple, Nike and other retail stores. The suspension of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. As a native of Indiana, that last one’s a heartbreaker.

    I’ve also had many, many discussions with colleagues in the investment industry, angel investors, and startup company leaders about what all of this means. I don’t have a crystal ball so I don’t have the answers. But after a lot of reflection and considering those who rely on me and whom I rely on, I have this advice:

    Now is a great time to invest.

    I’m not referring to the deals you can get on stocks like Apple, Exxon and Delta Airlines. What I’m suggesting is now, while we have extra time on our hands and working and actually living in our homes, why not make meaningful investments like the following:

     

    Invest in our families.

    Many of us are seeing our kids’ schools, including universities, close for the next few weeks. While it’s going to be a challenge for those of us with small children, it does create the opportunity to invest time in our families. Here are some ideas:

    • Cook the family meals together. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be fun.
    • Break out the board games or a deck of cards and teach the kids games like “Go Fish” and “52 Pickup.”
    • Grab a ball and play catch, horse or soccer.
    • Have family movie night in bed with lots of popcorn.

     

     

    Invest in ourselves.

    We tend to invest in our careers, startups and next fundraising round, but we forget about or postpone investing in ourselves. I know after a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is exercise. I also eat too many meals on the run. We know those with health conditions – many caused by lifestyle choices – are particularly vulnerable to the corona virus. This should be a wake-up call for all of us to invest in our health, which in turn protects us from everything from the corona virus to common colds to chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. Here are some ideas:

    • Start an exercise program. It doesn’t need to be fancy. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends that we get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week. This equates to five 30-minute walks each week.
    • Lift free weights at home adding pushups and planks. Three 30-minute workouts a week will build strength and improve balance. This is so easy to do.
    • Get more sleep. Most healthy adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to function at our best. And, if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re at a higher risk of getting sick.
    • Improve your diet. Eat clean, not junk.

     

    Invest in our communities.

    We will all be practicing “social distancing” for the next few weeks, which means limiting exposure to large groups of people. This doesn’t mean living alone on an island. Instead, be creative and invest in our communities. Consider these suggestions:

    • Informally adopt a road, corner, or highway in your community or neighborhood. Pick up trash, plant flowers or do maintenance. This is a great opportunity on your own or with your family.
    • Host a canned food, clothing, or toiletries drive for a local shelter or food bank. With the stress on family finances, there are plenty who will welcome the support. I have a friend who emailed everyone he knew about his food drive, providing a convenient drop-off point. He succeeded in collecting a pickup truckload of food. It was pretty simple and he managed the majority of the effort online.
    • Mentor someone: a teenager, younger colleague, a startup. We all have wisdom to share. Do it online for now, in person when life normalizes.

     

    We’re all stressed. Let’s turn it around.

     As my grandmother used to say, “This too shall pass.” Although we don’t know when, the corona virus pandemic will die down, there will be tests more widely available and there will be a vaccine. Schools and businesses will re-open. Sports team will take to the leads once again. Until then let’s redirect the stress and anxiety we cannot control to doing what we can. Invest in what matters.

    Be safe, be well,

    Ben Pidgeon