Author: Ben Pidgeon

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 7, 2016) – VisionTech Partners, which oversees one of the Midwest’s most active angel investing groups, just added its sixth chapter in Indiana. AngelBom, which derives its name from “business of medicine,” is an Affinity angel investing group dedicated to alumni of the IU Kelley School of Business, Business of Medicine Program, all of whom are physicians.

Based in Indianapolis, AngelBom joins VisionTech Angel groups in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, and Warsaw. It will draw its membership from a growing number of physicians across the nation who have earned MBAs from the IU Kelley School of Business.

AngelBom is the brainchild of IU Kelley School faculty members Todd Saxton, PhD, and Kim Saxton, PhD, and one of their recent MBA graduates, Dr. Tom Heniff, an emergency medicine physician with Witham Hospital in Lebanon, Indiana. The three believe the group brings a dynamic new dimension to VisionTech Angels and the Business of Medicine Program.

“A significant portion of our physician MBA program is dedicated to the strategy of creating and running businesses,” explains Todd Saxton, the Indiana Venture Faculty Fellow at the IU Kelley School. “Starting an Affinity angel investing group with VisionTech Angels gives our alumni, students, and colleagues a unique opportunity to put their MBAs into action, while leveraging their knowledge and experience as physicians.

Added Kim Saxton, a clinical associate professor in Marketing at the IU Kelley School, “These are people who are problem-solvers and logical thinkers, both valuable qualities for angel investors. AngelBom allows them to stay connected through angel investing. ”

VisionTech Managing Director Oscar Moralez says the new physician-led chapter is a perfect complement to the organization’s other angel investing chapters. “Members of AngelBom have first-hand knowledge and experience in the life sciences and healthcare arenas, both of which are sources of innovative technology and start-ups. Their insight will be valuable in evaluating potential deals. We also expect AngelBom to contribute to our deal flow. With its nationwide network of IU physician, MBAs, this could be significant.”

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When it comes to angel investing, Indianapolis entrepreneur Howard Bates has earned his wings. He has personally invested in ten startup companies as an angel investor. Howard is now CEO and co-founder of WorkHere, a startup company that received funding from VisionTech Angels in 2015 and is showing impressive traction.

Howard explains. “WorkHere is a very exciting company with a unique value proposition: we have a mobile/social app that builds a talent pipeline around employer locations. We help people in service industries, manufacturing and healthcare find jobs near where they live that are often not broadly advertised, while helping these employers connect with job candidates. Before WorkHere, it was an underserved and highly fragmented market.”

Howard approached VisionTech Angels looking for two things, financial and human capital. Most people know angel investors are a source of startup capital, but may be less informed about the business acumen they provide. Based on his past experience as an investor, Howard was aware of the added value to WorkHere and other startups.

“We needed capital, but we also needed access to the business expertise and connections of angel investors,” he explains. “We were excited to receive funding through VisionTech. As a result, we are able to draw on the talent of their members, which has been very helping as we validated our concept and accelerated our launch.”

As of late June, WorkHere now attracts more than 100 new job seekers a day. One day, they got over 200 new users in four hours – and that was just in Indiana! The adoption rate of the WorkHere app is unprecedented. Howard hopes the rapid adoption will spread across the country as they now have approximately 98 percent of every posted job in the United States in the WorkHere database and viewable on a map.

“We’ve got a great team at WorkHere, including my partners Rick Wehrle and Mike Seidle. We’re also fortunate to be a VisionTech Angels Portfolio Company,” Howard says. “I would definitely suggest other early growth companies consider angel investors such as VisionTech.”

Would you like to learn more about angel investing? VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels are hosting our annual E3 Summit, Empowering an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, on July 13 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory. The E3 Summit kicks off the two-day Innovation Showcase, an event billed as “Indiana’s premier event for “connecting fundable companies with capital sources.” The E3 Summit and The Innovation Showcase are ticketed events. Space is limited so those interested are encouraged to purchase tickets on The Innovation Showcase website.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (June 23, 2016) – Mark Throdahl is very familiar with angel investors. His company, Warsaw, Indiana-based OrthoPediatrics, whose orthopedic devices for children are in use the world over, received $1.9 million in start-up capital from angel investors in 2009. VisionTech Partners I VisionTech Angels provided more than money to fuel OrthoPediatrics’ growth. They provided people.

Throdahl, whose company is on track to generate $40 million in revenue in 2016, says VisionTech has had a seminal influence on OrthoPediatrics. “We have two VisionTech Angels on our board of directors; another angel investor who was a CEO of a major company serves in an of counsel role. The role angel investors have played in our success can’t be overstated.”

In a few short weeks, entrepreneurs and start-up companies in search of angels of their own will have a unique opportunity. VisionTech is hosting the E3 Summit, Empoweringing an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, the educational component of the two-day Innovation Showcase, July 13 and 14 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory. VisionTech’s E3 Summit kicks off the event, which is billed as “Indiana’s premier event for connecting fundable companies with capital sources.”

While education and insight into angel investing is the focus of VisionTech’s E3 Summit, attendees will also meet and network with VisionTech’s leadership, representatives of its portfolio companies, and CEOs of five startup companies that will pitch their respective investment opportunities.

“The E3 Summit is intentionally designed to connect people, ideas and knowledge,” explains VisionTech’s managing partner Oscar Moralez. “We’re asking attendees to complete a survey on their background and interests so we can tailor the day around this feedback. Attendees will be given the opportunity to assess, conduct due diligence and invest – with play money – in pitch companies. We’ll start with lunch and end with a VIP Reception hosted by Elevate Ventures so there will also be plenty of time to make valuable connections.”

One of those attendees is Howard Bates, a serial entrepreneur and now CEO and co-founder of WorkHere, a VisionTech portfolio company. He personally invested in ten start-up companies before approaching VisionTech in 2015 on behalf of WorkHere. “Our company is very exciting; a mobile/social app that builds a talent pipeline around employer locations. We needed capital, but we also needed access to the business skills and expertise of angel investors. We were excited to receive funded through VisionTech, and as a result, we are able to draw on the talent of their members.”

VisionTech’s “talent pool” is growing. In the last three years, the company has added angel-investing chapters in Bloomington and Fort Wayne, bringing the total to five chapters (the others are in Indianapolis, Lafayette and Warsaw.) Membership is nearly 100 angel investors and its investment portfolio includes 18 companies reflecting a diversity of markets. Rest assured these savvy angel investors will have their eyes open for promising start-ups participating in the E3 Summit and The Innovation Showcase.

The E3 Summit and The Innovation Showcase are ticketed events. Space is limited so those interested are encouraged to purchase tickets on The Innovation Showcase website.

There’s a certain romance in calling oneself an entrepreneur or angel investor. It conjures up images of Shark Tank, deal-making and hefty exits. Starting and investing in new companies is exciting and can be rewarding, but it requires a tremendous amount of knowledge and sweat equity.

In a few short weeks, VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels will “open the kimono” on angel investing when we host our annual E3 Summit, Empowering an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, on July 13 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory. The E3 Summit kicks off the two-day Innovation Showcase, an event billed as “Indiana’s premier event for “connecting fundable companies with capital sources.”

While education and insight into angel investing are the focus of VisionTech’s E3 Summit, it’s also a great networking event. We’ve invited our nearly 100 angel investors from across the state to attend, along with the leaders of our 18 start-up companies. If you want the real story on company formation, angel investing, pitching, and the due diligence process, the E3 Summit is the place to get it as we intentionally designed the summit to connect people, ideas and knowledge.

We do want to make the summit about your interests as entrepreneurs and potential angel investors. So we’re asking attendees to complete a survey on your background and interests. During the summit itself, attendees will be given the opportunity to assess, conduct due diligence and invest – with play money – in three pitch companies. We’ll start with lunch and end with a VIP Reception hosted by Elevate Ventures so there will also be plenty of time for discussion and connections

For those who are new to VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels, we’re among the most active angel groups in the Midwest. In the last three years, we’ve added angel-investing chapters in Bloomington and Fort Wayne, bringing our total to five chapters (the others are in Indianapolis, Lafayette and Warsaw.) Membership is nearly 100 angel investors strong and our investment portfolio includes 18 companies reflecting a diversity of markets. We’ve recently added a sidecar fund. Rest assured our savvy angel investing members will have their eyes open for promising start-ups participating in the E3 Summit and The Innovation Showcase.

The E3 Summit and The Innovation Showcase are ticketed events. Space is limited so those interested are encouraged to purchase tickets on The Innovation Showcase website.

Three years ago, Don Scifres, Bernie Berry, and I formed VisionTech Partners/VisionTech Angels with Don participating as a managing partner. We had just re-branded the company, offering the Indiana innovation economy “Smarter capital. Better results.” Don and I both jumped into VisionTech feet first, later adding Tony Petrucciani as managing partner, to make good on our word.

These past three years have been incredibly successful for VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels. We now have five chapters across Indiana, having added Bloomington and Fort Wayne to our angel-investing network. We have grown our membership to nearly 100 strong and continue to attract seasoned business  professionals and entrepreneurs to our angel network. Our portfolio of investments has grown exponentially and includes 18 early growth companies and reflects a healthy diversity of markets. VisionTech has recently launched a sidecar investment fund, giving our members new opportunities to invest and diversify their portfolios.

So it is with the mixed feelings that I share the news that Don is stepping back from his role as a full-time managing partner in VisionTech. The reason: Don has accepted the position of president of one of our successful portfolio companies, SmartFile. I’m sad because Don has been such a great leader and supporter of VisionTech; he has played a significant role in helping us become one of the strongest groups in the Midwest. Fortunately, we will continue to benefit from Don’s talents as he is continuing with VisionTech as a general partner. I’m also proud that John Hurley and the SmartFile team recognize Don’s many talents and his ability to advance their rapidly growing company.

VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels have accomplished great things in three short years and our plans are laser focused on continued success. With Don’s departure on June 30, we will be seeking an individual or individuals to add to the management team and continue to advance our vision and promise of “Smarter capital. Better results.”

Please join all of us at VisionTech in wishing Don all the best in his new role.

Involvement in entrepreneurship and angel investing remains largely male-dominated endeavors. This is not for a lack of trying. The Angel Capital Association has made recruiting women to angel investing a priority largely because of the unique perspective women bring to the table. They see and measure investing opportunities differently, which in turn means diversity in startup investing increases. In other words, we need women for a healthy startup community.

A couple of weeks ago, I was presented with a unique opportunity to speak to a group of women entrepreneurs. Fostering more women-owned startups and sharing with them how to access business capital would be a win-win in securing more diversity in Indy’s innovation economy. Intrigued, I accepted the invitation.

The pressure was on.

The group was Indianapolis-based The Startup Ladies founded in 2014 by Kristin Cooper, a vice president with SticksnLeaves, which helps people build high-growth software businesses. A born networker, Kristin realized over the course of her travels that there are many talented women who want to start companies, but have no idea how to go about it. So she created The Startup Ladies as a networking/talent connecting/idea sharing group for female entrepreneurs. Each month, The Startup Ladies hosts a Startup Study Hall that includes a businessperson who can provide insight into company formation. In March, I was their guest.

The event sold out, which according to Kristin, is not unusual as these women want to learn. Still, I was flattered. I decided to focus on two storylines: my experience as a startup entrepreneur with BioStorage Technologies and as an investor in startups in my role as managing director of VisionTech Partners/VisionTech Angels.

First, BioStorage. When I founded the company in 2002, all I had was an idea. Over the next 13 years, we assembled a strong team and built BioStorage into the premier, global provider of comprehensive sample management solutions for the bioscience industry. Late in 2015, we had one of the most successful exits in Indianapolis’ history. For many in the audience, the story was eye opening. Not so much because of what the company does, but the fact that it took more than a decade from inception to exit. Popular culture tends to romanticize entrepreneurship and there’s a perception that success comes quickly. My experience with BioStorage was a dose of reality with a happy ending: hard work pays off, but it often takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. It’s definitely a TEAM effort!

From there we moved into Angel Investing 101 and we explored what VisionTech Angels looks for in investable startup companies. Among other things, we look for companies with solid growth potential, a true market need, a clear strategy, and strong leadership. Again, it was an eye-opening discussion. For many, SharkTank is as close to investors as many in the audience had been. Knowing this is an ambitious group, Kristin and I challenged them to create their own pitch decks just as if they were presenting to the VisionTech Angels and we’d critique them.

The time with The Startup Ladies flew by. The evening was fun, interactive and there were many great questions. I forgot to be nervous. However, now I’m wondering how many of these entrepreneurs will be knocking on VisionTech’s door with their pitch decks. Given their enthusiasm, it’s likely to be quite a few.

Indianapolis, IN, (March 3, 2016) – Mobile and web job search app developer WorkHere has announced the closure of a $1.7 million seed investment. The company plans to use the funds to improve the WorkHere mobile app and expand market share in Indiana. WorkHere’s seed round was led by Indianapolis based VisionTech Angels with participation by other angel investors located all over the United States.

Oscar Moralez, managing director of VisionTech Angels, said, “WorkHere has assembled impressive operating and advisory teams with deep experience and multiple successes in the career search space. VisionTech is pleased to support their efforts to apply the latest technologies and a unique business model to serve the previously overlooked need of pairing service industries with localized talent, thereby addressing both economic and social needs of our society.”

According to WorkHere CEO Howard Bates, “As wages go down, workers become increasingly sensitive to location and commute times. WorkHere uses the GPS built into most mobile devices and computers to allow workers to find jobs near home, school, or child care.” WorkHere shows workers nearby places they can work and local jobs posted online. Job seekers can follow places they are interested in and get notified when jobs are posted online.

For employers, WorkHere addresses finding new workers in a tight labor market. WorkHere lets job seekers connect with places they visit and quickly engage with hiring managers. According to CEO Bates, “Right now, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are 1.54 candidates for every open job in the US. If you are an employer, getting more workers in the hiring pipeline is a huge challenge. WorkHere helps employers take advantage of high traffic locations and convert customers into candidates.”

WorkHere also helps employers address turnover by helping employers recruit more workers who live nearby. According to CEO Bates, “Location and commute times are major factors in why people decide to take or leave a job. WorkHere creates an always growing hyper local talent pipeline that can be tapped whenever a hire needs to be made.”

WorkHere is free for job seekers and is available in the App Store for Apple devices, on Google Play for Android Devices, and the web for computers.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (February 23, 2016) – VisionTech Angels, the angel investing arm of VisionTech Partners, has named Pat East, an Indiana-based digital marketer, entrepreneur and angel investor, as president of the Bloomington chapter of VisionTech Angels. East succeeds Christy Page as chapter president.

VisionTech Angels is among Indiana’s premier angel investing organizations, with five chapters across the state, including Indianapolis (headquarters), Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Lafayette, and Warsaw. The organization is fast approaching 100 angel investors.

East is the founder and chief executive officer of Hanapin Marketing, a premier digital marketing agency headquartered in Bloomington that specializes in paid search marketing. Additionally, Hanapin owns and operates PPC Hero, the industry’s leading blog on pay per click marketing, and Hero Conf, the world’s largest pay per click-only conference.

An experienced business builder, East has led Hanapin Marketing to 11 consecutive years of profitability and double-digit revenue growth in 10 of those years. The company is a three-time Indiana Best Places to Work winner and a two-time Inc 5000 honoree. He taught one of the nation’s first search marketing courses at Indiana University, and he’s been awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Small Business Development Center. East is also an avid angel investor, advising start-up companies with high-growth potential primarily in web and technology industries.

“I am pleased to serve as the president of the Bloomington chapter of VisionTech Angels,” East said. “My goals are to grow our membership among angel investors and increase awareness of VisionTech Angel’s ability to support and foster successful start-up companies. Among VisionTech Angels’ strengths are its statewide presence and the depth of industry experience among its members. Our investors are very knowledgeable and engaged in growing Indiana’s economy.”

Commenting on East’s new role, VisionTech Partners Managing Partner Don Scifres said, “VisionTech is fortunate to have Pat lead our Bloomington chapter. His enthusiasm and passion for investing in and advising start-up companies make him a perfect advocate for VisionTech Angels. Additionally, we’re excited to have Pat’s deep digital marketing expertise; it’s an incredible knowledge base for current and future VisionTech portfolio companies.“

East graduated with a B.A. in English from Wabash College, where he serves as class agent and previously served two terms on the National Alumni Board.