Author: Ben Pidgeon

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (January 6, 2016) – VisionTech Angels, the angel investing arm of VisionTech Partners, has named Eric Beier, MD, MBA, an Indiana-based physician, entrepreneur and angel investor, as president of its new Fort Wayne chapter. Among Indiana’s premier angel investing organizations, VisionTech Angels now has five chapters with more than 80 members across the state: Indianapolis (headquarters), Bloomington, Lafayette, Warsaw, and now Fort Wayne.

Beier is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Matrix-Bio, a biotech startup company that is working toward commercializing a cancer diagnostics technology licensed from Purdue University. Prior to Matrix-Bio, Beier was the founder and CEO of MedOptima, a physician consulting and revenue cycle management firm. He sold the company in 2012 to Texas-based MediGain. Beier is a long-time angel investor and was actively involved in Fort Wayne’s Main Street Venture Partners.

“I am pleased to serve as the president of VisionTech Angels’ new Fort Wayne chapter,” Beier said. “Northern Indiana has a vibrant innovation and start-up community, and VisionTech Angels is a welcome addition. My goals as president for 2016 are two-fold: to recruit 20 members – we’re currently at nine – and to create a solid source of capital and mentoring for entrepreneurs and start-up companies in Northern Indiana.”

Beier added, “The strength of VisionTech Angels is that it is both statewide and local to Fort Wayne. Through VisionTech Angels, investors and entrepreneurs can tap into a deep network of expertise across a broad range of industries, which is very powerful.”

VisionTech Partners Managing Partner Don Scifres said VisionTech Angels is in growth mode, as witnessed by the new chapter and its new president. “VisionTech is fortunate to have Eric lead our Fort Wayne chapter. His experience as aphysician, entrepreneur, businessperson, and investor is invaluable to VisionTech Angels’ members and to start-up companies seeking capital and insight in what it takes to successfully launch and exit a company. Eric has an incredible knowledge base and professional network that will be an asset to VisionTech Angels and to the Northern Indiana innovation community.”

Beier graduated summa cum laude from Hanover College, with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Chemistry. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from Indiana University and Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Beier serves on the boards of the Northern Indiana Innovation Center and Crossroad Fort Wayne Children’s Home. An emergency medicine physician, he was president and board member of the Indiana Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians and is a past member of the Fort Wayne Medical Society.

The VisionTech Angels Fort Wayne chapter meets at the Northern Indiana Innovation Center, which also serves as a corporate member of the chapter. The next meeting is Tuesday, January 19, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Two decades ago, the news reports out of Rwanda were sobering. Over a 100-day period in the spring of 1994, ten percent of the country’s population was lost to a genocidal mass slaughter. Up to one million people were dead; it was a reality the world had trouble understanding.

When David Helmer, a member of the VisionTech Partners Advisory Board and founder of Helmer Scientific, invited me on an entrepreneurial visit to Rwanda in November, I felt some trepidation. Why Rwanda? Why now? Knowing David had successfully started a company there and was optimistic about the country’s future, I agreed to accompany him.

No businessperson likes walking into a deal blind, so I did do some due diligence. Here’s what I learned. Rwanda has reinvented itself into a new model of what African nations can be. It is now part of the East African Community (EAC), a progressive regional intergovernmental organization that includes Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. These nations came together to form a regional economic bloc with strategic and geopolitical significance. In 2014, the EAC boasted a combined population of more than 143.5 million people, a combined Gross Domestic Product of $110.3 billion, and a total land area of 1.82 million square kilometers. Rwanda is also home to one of the world’s largest populations of mountain gorillas—more about that later.

David and I flew into Kigali, Rwanda’s capital and home to more than a million people. As we drove to our hotel, I was struck by how clean the city was, even the lower income areas. There was no trash; everything was orderly. New construction was everywhere. Our hotel was as nice as any in a large American city.

My plans for the trip included consulting with government and business leaders on entrepreneurship, company formation and capital raising—the very things I do through VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels with Indiana startup companies. But with a full week in Rwanda, I was surprised to learn that David and I had no formal agenda. When I expressed my surprise, he gave me a knowing look.

I soon understood the significance of that look. Rwandans are very personable and open to new people and new ideas, particularly when it’s related to business. For our first day there we had a breakfast meeting scheduled and that was it. By the end of the meal, four meetings had been set up. Our day, once empty, was full. Frankly, that’s how the rest of the trip went. We’d meet with people and from there new meetings and connections would mushroom. Everyone was welcoming, gracious, and eager to share their ideas and pick our brains.

One of the things we learned is that Rwanda is home to an EAC Center of Excellence in Biomedical Technology. They are building a technology park that will focus on life sciences, informatics and energy. Naturally, this led to more conversation and to make a long story short, I’ll be heading back to Rwanda in February with an initial proposal on how to leverage their new infrastructure into new collaborative opportunities.

The week flew by, but as busy as the trip was, I made time to visit Volcanoes National Park for some gorilla trekking. It was quite amazing to see these animals up close and in their element.

It’s said perception is reality. This trip to Rwanda proved that adage isn’t always true. The reality of Rwanda is optimism and opportunity. I’m already looking forward to my next trip.

INDIANAPOLIS, October 27, 2015 – Indianapolis-based VisionTech Partners are no strangers to looking at early stage companies. Their investment arm, VisionTech Angels, is among Indiana’s most active angel investing groups, with 14 early-stage growth companies in its portfolio. Now, VisionTech is expanding its sights to possibly include early stage growth countries.

In early November, Oscar Moralez, VisionTech’s managing partner and co-founder of BioStorage Technologies, will travel with David Helmer, a VisionTech general partner and owner of Helmer Scientific, to the African nation of Rwanda for a week of entrepreneurial activities, including high level consulting and scouting for investment opportunities. Helmer, who also co-founded a strategic coaching and investment company in Rwanda five years ago, has traveled to Rwanda 15 times over the last eight years and has existing investments in East African companies.

While many people in the West don’t yet equate Rwanda with economic vibrancy (the country was embroiled in a devastating genocide two decades ago) in June 2015 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended the country for its economic reforms, and a strong and stable economic outlook. The website AfricaEconomicOutlook.org reports that Rwanda’s real GDP grew by seven percent in 2014, with seven percent annual growth forecasted for the upcoming years.

Helmer says some may be surprised to know that six of the ten fastest growing economies are located in sub-Saharan Africa. “Rwanda and the other countries that make the East African Community represent more than 300 million people in a common market of economies that includes Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda is also part of the African Free Trade Zone, which has a combined GDP of $624 billion (USD). This region has a very dynamic business climate,” Helmer explains.

“Rwanda is consistently ranked among the best places in Africa to do business, due to the significant progress made by government initiatives. It has a stable financial structure, property rights and a continually improving infrastructure. I have experienced Rwanda as the cleanest country in Africa, and a recent Gallup survey listed it as the safest country on the continent,” Helmer continued.

Although schedules are still being finalized, Moralez and Helmer plan to meet with the country’s science and technology leadership, as well as officials in finance and education. An address to the Private Sector Federation, Rwanda’s version of a chamber of commerce, is in the works. The two also have a full schedule of consulting engagements with established companies to foster relationships and provide coaching on company growth and future investment. Additionally, they plan to have discussions regarding opportunities for the City of Indianapolis and other Hoosier enterprises in the areas of sports and life science. Another scheduled meeting with the Ministry of Sport and Culture is a result of Helmer’s previous trips. It will be the final discussion toward a pending agreement that would create a unique sports development partnership.

Moralez will be leading entrepreneurial workshops for groups in the capital city of Kigali. The plan is to share best practices and ideas from VisionTech’s proven approach to company formation and technology commercialization. Fortunately, English is among Rwanda’s three languages with French and Kinyarwanda being the other two. “We’re meeting with early-stage companies in distribution, manufacturing and technology that are interested in capital formation, investment strategies and supporting rapid growth,” Moralez said. “Some experts say that East Africa is where China was 20 years ago. Sure, it’s early, but early growth is where VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels have been most successful. This will keep us open to the dynamics and opportunities in this constantly changing world.”

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.

Indiana attorney Stuart Gutwein is not one to sit still. When he’s not practicing law, he’s advising startup companies at incubators around the state. If he’s not founding and running investment firms, he’s doing cross-fit or spending time with family.

He’s now added something new to his plate: president of VisionTech Angel’s Lafayette chapter. The entire VisionTech team—which includes angel groups in Bloomington, Indianapolis, Warsaw and Lafayette along with other investing and entrepreneurial activities in state and across the nation—is thrilled to have Stuart on board.

Let me share a few things about Stuart. He holds dual citizenship in Indiana, having earned a business degree from Purdue and a law degree from Indiana University. He’s not afraid to get down in the trenches; he advises and assists startup companies at the Purdue Foundry, which supports faculty, student and staff entrepreneurs; The Anvil, a Purdue student led co-working space; MatchBOX, a Greater Lafayette co-working space; and zWorks, a co-working space in Zionsville.

I characterize Stuart as a serial entrepreneur. After working for two other law firms, he and his cousin Andrew Gutwein founded Gutwein Law, which has offices in Lafayette and Indianapolis. 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.

In his law practice, Gutwein focuses on serving as outside general counsel to emerging and growing businesses. This includes company formation, capital raising and other financing transactions, operational issues, and mergers and acquisitions—all things new companies must know to create a foundation for success. He also has been involved with a number of trade associations as well as the Indiana Bar’s agriculture law group. These experiences give him a strong knowledge of many different industries, which is very valuable when considering startup companies for investment.

Back to Stuart’s “dual citizenship,” VisionTech works closely with both Purdue and IU to mentor and support university entrepreneurs. It’s great that Stuart is already involved at Purdue. Now I just need to get him down to Bloomington with me!

VisionTech Partners is pleased to learn of the appointment of Jim Schellinger, Chairman and CEO of one of Indiana’s premiere architect firms, CSO Architects, as president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC).

Reaching across party lines – Schellinger is a former Democrat gubernatorial candidate – Governor Mike Pence today issued this statement:

“Since day one, our administration has prioritized establishing Indiana as the best state in the nation for job creation. To do this, we need a top-notch team at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, and Jim Schellinger is the right man at the right time to lead the organization. Already this year, Hoosier companies have committed to creating more than 15,000 new jobs in the coming years with salaries well above the state’s current average. I am confident that Jim, with his unmatched business leadership experience, will continue to build on this progress and attract both national and international recognition and investment in the Hoosier State.”

In addition to his political activities, Jim is well known and respected for his architecture firm’s involvement in high profile projects that include the new Indianapolis International Airport and Circle Centre Mall. These CSO Architects projects and many others have contributed to the state’s stature and an environment that welcomes business.

VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels have close ties to the IEDC. This spring, we were selected by the IEDC and Elevate Ventures to participate in the Indiana Seed Fund, a state-supported investment fund that encourages growth among angel investor groups and privately managed early-stage investment firms and promotes investment in Indiana-based high-potential startup companies. The move more than doubled the amount of capital VisionTech is able to invest in any eligible Indiana-based company. This was exciting news for our organization, our angel investor members across the state, our portfolio companies, and those seeking capital.

On behalf of VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels, we welcome Jim Schellinger to the IEDC and look forward to supporting his efforts to expand Indiana’s innovation economy.

Editor’s Note: VisionTech Partners is a co-sponsor of The Innovation Showcase on Thursday, July 9 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway. Over the next two weeks, we will be profiling some of the start-up companies that have the honor of pitching at the Showcase.

A friend has just given birth. A family member has passed away. A co-worker’s had a car wreck and is laid up in bed. You want to help, but your own busy life doesn’t leave much time to be there for others in a meaningful way.

Aimee Kandrac, an admitted Type A entrepreneur, wife and mother of two, found herself in this situation several years ago when a close family friend was diagnosed with brain cancer. She and her mother pitched in to help, as did others, but found themselves wishing for a better way.

The simple desire for a more focused and informed way to help others led Aimee to found WhatFriendsDo.com, a web-based platform that enables people to organize help with meals, children, pets, and more when friends or family face a life-changing event. Free to users, WhatFriendsDo.com allows people to create a care team, plan and coordinate activities and schedules, identify those with special skills, create a guestbook, provide updates, and post photos.

“We are not changing the need to help, we’re giving people a structure to facilitate the process of caring for friends. It’s simple, but powerful,” Aimee says.

WhatFriendsDo.com has attracted 60,000 users around the world, largely relying on word of mouth and social media buzz to build its user base. Aimee is now in the process of redesigning the website to create a richer, more advanced user experience.

O.K. Sounds good. But investors want to know how does one monetize acts of kindness?

WhatFriendsDo.com is actually a software platform that businesses and organizations can license and offer to others as a service to build their own brand loyalty. The company’s first high-profile client is the Indiana University Health System, which licensed the platform and has rebranded as “The Strength of Friends.” IU Health offers it to families and loved ones of patients to extend care beyond hospital walls and make the transition home easier.

Health systems represent a major licensing market for What Friends Do. Other markets include large corporations’ HR departments, funeral homes, churches and other faith-based groups, hospice organizations, and social groups. Clients can use the WhatFriendsDo.com name or white label the service with a name of their choosing.

Aimee is adding other revenue-generating services to What Friends Do, details that will be shared at The Innovation Showcase, co-sponsored by VisionTech Partners, July 9 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway. She recently closed her first round of funding, and looks forward to the exposure the Showcase provides.

“If you’re an Indiana start-up company, you need to be at The Innovation Showcase.”

Editor’s Note: VisionTech Partners is a co-sponsor of The Innovation Showcase on July 9 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway. We are pleased to profile a member of VisionTech Angels.

Growing up in Warsaw, Indiana, town of some 13,600 residents, Sheryl Conley never imagined she would be group president and chief marketing officer of one of the world’s most successful orthopedic medical device companies, Zimmer Holdings, let alone responsible for more than $3 billion of the company’s $3.9 billion in global consolidated sales.

“I was amazed; my family and friends were amazed,” admitted Sheryl, who left Zimmer in 2008 and is now president and CEO of OrthoWorx, a nonprofit, community-based initiative that seeks to maintain Warsaw’s position as the Orthopedic Capital of the World. “It was a wonderful opportunity to work with a global company and with talented people all over the world while living in my hometown.”

A 25-year veteran of the medical orthopedic device industry, Sheryl formed S.L. Conley Consulting in 2011, advising clients on strategic, business, and new technology assessments and projects. Looking for new opportunities to put her extensive experience in brand management, marketing, sales, product development, operations, organizational design, and talent management, she accepted an invitation from former Zimmer colleague, Terry Schlotterback, to attend a meeting of VisionTech Angels in Warsaw.

“I was attracted by the entertainment value as many of my former colleagues in the orthopedics space, people I respect and enjoy, were members,” she said with a smile. “But it was also fun to return to my former life of evaluating businesses. Startup companies are very different from established corporations so I have learned a lot. In addition, one of our initiatives at OrthoWorx is to help expand the innovation ecosystem of the region by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurship, and angel investing can play a key role in building the environment.”

Since becoming a member of VisionTech Angels in 2010, Sheryl said that VisionTech Angels have become very adept at identifying promising startup companies and performing effective due diligence, helping angel investors making informed decisions when participating in a deal. “It’s great to see our angel group expanding across Indiana and have Don Scifres and Tony Petrucciani join Oscar Moralez as the group’s leaders.”

A personal goal of Sheryl’s is to attract more women to angel investing. She cites the fact that businesses led by women or that have women serving on their boards often have better outcomes and success than all-male companies.

“While it boils down to being primarily about the dollars and the start-up’s leadership team, women come with their own set of experiences and look at things differently than men. If we have more women at the angel-investing table looking at deals, women with experience in business, science, law and technology, we’ll attract more female investors and entrepreneurs. This will add to the conversation, enhance due diligence and ultimately lead to good decision,” she said.

Sheryl has personally recruited two women to the ranks of VisionTech Angels’ Warsaw chapter, and would like to see more. However, the business and family responsibilities of female executives can preclude them from building networks that are so valuable to angel investors. This is one reason why the successful executive and angel investor is encouraging women to attend The Innovation Showcase, sponsored in part by VisionTech Partners, July 8 and 9 at Dallara Indycar Factory in Speedway.

“It’s a great place to learn, see to start-ups and their ideas, and above all, to network.”

Editor’s Note: VisionTech Partners is a co-sponsor of The Innovation Showcase on July 9 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway. We are profiling some of the start-up companies that will be presenting.

It’s probably happened to you. A product or service doesn’t meet your expectations. So you go to the company’s website, looking for satisfaction and contact information.

You call and get an automated attendant. No satisfaction. You email and get an automatic reply. No satisfaction. Fed up, you go to social media or maybe a public review site and let the non-communicative company have it with a major rant.

Result? Your problem is still a problem, and the offending company has just lost a customer and suffered a highly public shaming.

There’s got to be a better way. Which is exactly what Indy serial entrepreneur George Klein was thinking when he founded Peoplocity three years ago. It’s a customer service platform that enables companies to engage with customers who need solutions privately, in real time, via a free mobile app, and in so doing improve the customer experience, brand loyalty and retention.

Wow! All that in an app. I could have used that the other day when the airline canceled my flight…when my cable went out…or after that bad meal I paid a fortune for.

Klein says the tension between companies and customers is growing because the channels for private communications are shrinking. Interactions that could be handled with civility given half a chance often devolve into online rants when a customer can’t find someone to listen. Peoplocity solves that problem.

“Our app empowers consumers to message a company directly via their smartphone or other device and get a quick response to their situation,” explains Klein. “We offer the app free to the public.”

So how exactly does Peoplocity connect businesses and customers, and the all-important question, create a revenue stream?

Klein explains that companies must enroll in Peoplocity, which is a cloud-based, software-as-a-service with built-in analytics, to create the direct-to-consumer channel. “We notify the company of customer messages so the company can respond. The platform organizes and aggregates all messages using tags so companies can identify trends and spot problems and act on them before it is too late.

“It’s also a great way to control both the conversation and the outcome,” he adds.

Klein hopes to start a lot of conversation at The Innovation Showcase – co-sponsored by VisionTech Partners – Thursday, July 9 at Dallara Indycar Factory in Speedway. “Our goal is to continue to build relationships, meet with potential clients and identify new team members. And if we raise some money – all the better!”

For eligible Indiana startup companies, raising capital just got easier. That means fewer late nights honing your pitch. A few less pitches to potential investors. And fewer sleepless nights waiting for due diligence to be completed.

Here’s why. VisionTech Partners was recently selected to participate in Elevate Ventures’ Indiana Seed Fund, a state-supported investment fund that encourages growth among angel investor groups and privately managed early-stage investment firms, while at the same time, promoting investment in Indiana-based high-potential startup companies.

This is a major deal starter as it doubles the amount of capital VisionTech Partners can invest in any eligible Indiana-based company through VisionTech Angels and our separately funded sidecar fund. Elevate Ventures will co-invest up to $500,000 per deal; increasing the amount we generally invest in a single qualified company from $500,000 to $1 million or more.

We’re excited for two reasons. First, it will strengthen our deal flow and put more investment opportunities in front of our statewide angel community. Second, it significantly lessens the burden of fundraising for startups. In effect, eligible startups can raise more capital with less effort and put more energy behind their company’s commercialization activities.

Elevate Ventures launched the Indiana Seed Fund in late 2014, in partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). The Fund has $5.5 million in available capital to co-invest in fully vetted, Indiana-based startup companies alongside selected investment groups. VisionTech Partners was chosen to participate by an IEDC committee based on stringent criteria, including the ability to invest at least $250,000 in Indiana companies by September 2016. VisionTech Partners is among the first investment groups selected to participate in the program.

VisionTech Partners thanks Elevate Ventures for selecting us to participate in the Indiana Seed Fund. We are committed to growing our state’s innovation-based economy through thoughtful investment in promising companies. It’s one more big reason entrepreneurs should come to VisionTech first.