Author: Ben Pidgeon

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – VisionTech Partners has been 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 and promotes investment in Indiana-based high-potential startup companies, thereby strengthening the State of Indiana’s entrepreneurial and investment network.  The move effectively doubles the amount of capital VisionTech Partners is able to invest in any eligible Indiana-based company.

Elevate Ventures, in partnership with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and with funding provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, launched the Indiana Seed Fund in late 2014 with $5.5 million in total available capital to co-invest in fully-vetted, Indiana-based startup companies alongside selected investment groups. Participating investment groups are chosen based on stringent criteria, including the ability to invest at least $250,000 in Indiana companies by September 2016, by an evaluation committee coordinated by the IEDC. VisionTech Partners is among the first cohort of investment groups selected to participate in the program.

VisionTech Partners Managing Director Oscar Moralez said his group would invest through VisionTech Angels and a separately funded sidecar fund.  Elevate Ventures will co-invest with VisionTech up to $500,000 per deal.  “The Indiana Seed Fund raises the ceiling on the amount we can invest in a single qualified company, from $500,000 to $1 million. This will strengthen our deal flow and allow us to provide additional support to promising Indiana companies requiring more capital.”

Moralez added that the Indiana Seed Fund significantly lessens the burden of fundraising for entrepreneurs. “They can raise more capital with less effort,” he explained. “It is one more reason for entrepreneurs to come to VisionTech for their investment needs.”

“Indiana Seed Fund is one of Elevate’s primary co-investment vehicles similar to a fund-of-funds setup,” said Chris LaMothe, who will begin his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of Elevate Ventures in July of this year. “We look to partner with organized angel groups and investment firms with solid fund management experience and a credible investment track record.  VisionTech’s established angel group investment activities and its domain and operational expertise can help drive more high-growth opportunities in Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” LaMothe added.

Elevate Ventures operates two direct investment programs and two fund-of-funds programs, targeting seed and early-stage Indiana-based investment opportunities, and has over 40 companies in its direct investment portfolio.

VisionTech Angels has four chapters across the State of Indiana: Bloomington, Indianapolis, Lafayette, and Warsaw. With more than 65 active investors and $1.4 million in deployed capital in 2014, VisionTech Angels is the largest and among the most active angel groups in the State.

In the spirit of the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500, the Venture Club of Indiana hosted a themed meeting for entrepreneurs and investors in early May. On the agenda was a panel discussion on RACE—Regulatory Changes, Angel Investing, Crowd Funding and Engagement—intended to help starts up accelerate the fund-raising process.

As you might guess, I represented angel investing. Nick Mathioudakis, an attorney with Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, covered regulatory changes, while Ryan Flynn introduced LocalStake.com, an investment crowdfunding platform that helps small U.S. businesses raise funds from investors in their community. Todd Saxton graciously moderated the discussion.

Fortunately, we had a friendly audience (maybe they thought this was truly a race event?) of more than 140 people, a good many of whom were entrepreneurs wanting to gain a better understanding of the best road to capital raising. My focus was the trends and dynamics of angel investing, what angel investors look for in a deal, and when and how entrepreneurs to engage with angels.

With the innovation/entrepreneur landscape changing so rapidly, this was a great event for attendees and presenters. I learned good bit about crowdfunding trends, which is predicted to be the top source of startup capital in a few years. I, for one, welcome crowdfunding sites like LocalStake.com to the innovation marketplace as it creates more options for startups and investors alike, which in turn will help fuel the process of bringing more technologies and job-creating companies to Indiana.

Thank you, Venture Club of Indiana, for hosting the event and for kicking off race month in Indy with style!

Two weeks ago, Oscar Moralez, Tony Petrucciani, and I were in San Diego for the 2015 Angel Capital Association Summit. It was my first time to attend an ACA annual meeting and the opportunity to network with 700 angel investors from around the world and hear from others in our industry like serial-entrepreneur and Lean Startup founder Steve Blank made the trip a must. Another draw? In 2014, Forbes named San Diego “The Best Place for Startups in the United States.”

I was not disappointed. The ACA is celebrating its tenth anniversary as the leading professional and trade association for angel investors. Summit planners had lined up 30 different tracks and topics over the two-day meeting, ranging from getting the best deal flow from accelerators, dealing with crowd-funding and general solicitation, and the latest trends in sectors like life sciences, wearable technology and clean tech. San Diego was, of course, beautiful!

Several topics were of particular interest to me. Because VisionTech Partners collaborates with both the Purdue Foundry and the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing, the session on working with universities was helpful. Here’s an interesting takeaway: 87 percent of faculty innovators have no intention of leaving their university to commercialize ideas. Therefore, angel groups are typically best served by focusing on licensing university IP and creating our own commercialization teams, instead of looking to a faculty member to lead a startup. As an alternative to awarding equity for the IP license, we should consider instead to offer royalties. Another recommendation—and something VisionTech already practices through our university entrepreneur mentorship program INVisionU—is to go straight to universities for IP as technology listed on websites tends to be out of date.

VisionTech is often asked to weigh in on potential CEOs. This is a strategic and sensitive area for startups as leadership is critical to success. I took in a session titled, “How to Choose a Successful Jockey for Your Startup.” The advice was practical; here are five things to consider when evaluating CEO candidates:

• Was the candidate an entrepreneur in their youth? Did they babysit, cut grass or hold other jobs? Teens who demonstrate initiative are likely to do the same as adults.

• Have they led other companies to success? Past successes correlate to four times greater likelihood of replicating success in a new venture. This simply cannot be ignored.

• How able are they to recruit a team? They can’t do it all and need to be surrounded by a strong, complementary team.

• What do the CEO candidates think about your product? Believers with passion are preferred.

• Would you want to work with the CEO for the next five years? You probably will so you better be happy with them.

The final session I’d like to mention was titled, “Attracting Women Angels to Your Network.” VisionTech Angels has one female chapter president, Christy Page, in Bloomington. We also have five women angels across our five chapters – not nearly enough. We would like to attract more. One suggestion was to target women-led companies for investment. Another was to invest in companies that tend to be of interest to women like educational technology, green tech and medical. The best advice for recruiting women members was this: ask them to join. I think we can do that!

The trip to San Diego for the ACA Summit reminded me just how much fun angel investing is. There are a lot of great, intelligent people involved who happily and openly share what they’ve learned and their perspectives. For me, meeting entrepreneurs and startups makes everyday a field trip. If you’d like to learn more about VisionTech Angels and angel investing, I would encourage you to visit our website. Or better yet, come to one of our chapter meetings in Bloomington, Indianapolis, Lafayette, or Warsaw. Click for our calendar of upcoming meetings.

Whether you’re an angel investor managing a portfolio, an entrepreneur in search of capital, or a portfolio company building your business, keeping on top of changing investment and business scenarios and administrative duties associated with investing can be a challenge.

For VisionTech Angels, it’s an opportunity.

We recently adopted the Venture360 investment platform, thus creating a more synergistic, interactive relationship between our angel investors and start-up companies. The new web-based platform has separate portals for current VisionTech Angels, prospective investors and entrepreneurs seeking investment, enabling more immediate communications and seamless investment processes. The result? VisionTech now has a more connected and engaged investment community.

Venture360 offers tremendous benefits. VisionTech Angels and our portfolio companies have individual accounts. Angels have access to detailed information on each of their investments, while portfolio companies have comprehensive profiles on their companies. When they update their profiles, individual investors are automatically sent a notice, resulting in enhanced communications.

The application process for those interested in becoming a VisionTech Angel or applying for funding is also streamlined.

Venture360 is a much more efficient tool for due diligence and financial administration. It includes an electronic signature feature that eliminates the need for a separate electronic document sharing software. It also online ACH payment processing so there are no fees or hassles of bank wires.

Don, Tony, and I are very excited about the Venture360 platform. Accounts have been created for all VisionTech Angels and for our portfolio companies; it’s up to you to activate your account! The platform is intuitive and easy to use, but we’re also happy to walk you through it. To get started now, here are the links you need:

VisionTech Angels Start Now

Interested Investors Start Now

Entrepreneurs Start Now

This Wednesday, February 25,  representatives of VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels will  travel to West Lafayette to participate in Purdue University’s faculty “Pitch Day,” part of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy. Our role: to serve as technology commercialization and business start-up experts for the ten Purdue faculty members who will pitch their ideas.

We are looking forward to a great event. Too often, university faculty interested in commercializing their discoveries or in developing entrepreneurial activities have too few opportunities to gain the skills they need. Purdue’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship initiated the Entrepreneurial Leadership Academy in fall 2007 as a way to support, educate and mentor faculty interested in commercializing their discoveries.

One of the key objectives of Purdue’s Pitch Day is to foster collaboration with organizations like VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels that can provide valuable business startup and commercialization mentorship to faculty entrepreneurs. During Pitch Day, each faculty member gets 30 minutes in front of VisionTech and other participants, 10 minutes to pitch their ideas and 20 minutes for VisionTech experts and others to ask questions and provide advice.

Purdue faculty members selected for Pitch Day reflect a wide spectrum of entrepreneurial interests, objectives and stages. We will be hearing from individuals with technologies in agribusiness, biotech, information technology, and nanotechnology. While our official role is to assist faculty in building their knowledge base, it also provides VisionTech with a “sneak preview” of Purdue technologies and start-ups that we can possibly participate in as investors. So it is definitely a win-win for Purdue and VisionTech!

I would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Candiss Vibbert, assistant vice president for Engagement and associate director for Purdue Research Park Engagement, for inviting VisionTech to participate in Pitch Day. Events such as this support our goal of being where inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, universities, and strategic partners converge to share, develop, fund, and launch innovative technologies.

Nowadays when I meet with a physician, it’s typically not a about a health issue. It’s about an idea they have for a new product, a new service or start-up company.

No matter how many times this happens, my ears always perk up. Physicians are highly educated, highly intelligent and natural problem-solvers. The world in which they operate (no pun intended) is technology rich. At the same time, healthcare reform is challenging physicians and the healthcare system at large to do things differently, to innovate and act as change agents. Physicians constantly ask themselves, how can I do this better? When the answer presents itself, it’s often a very good idea.

Late last year, Pete Turner and I met after being introduced by a VisionTech board member, to talk about forming a new partnership to co-develop and advance healthcare innovations. Pete is the vice president for innovation at Community Launchpad, Community Health Network’s innovation accelerator, and a division of Visionary Enterprises, Inc., the wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of Community Health Network. This healthcare-focused innovation accelerator is unique; it was established to encourage and support innovation and technology creation by physicians and other healthcare providers.

I was immediately interested. VisionTech Angels’ investment portfolio currently has seven healthcare-related companies whose leadership or advisory teams include physicians. I have personally been involved with highly successful physician-led ventures. Great things come from these folks.

Thus began a series of discussions with Pete. Our collaboration would focus on identifying emerging medical innovations, with both organizations applying their respective skills, programs, and networks to bring opportunities to the marketplace. It did not take long for us to reach an agreement; the VisionTech Partners-Community Launchpad agreement was formally announced on February 11.

This is exactly the type of partnership VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels seek for two reasons. First, it allows our group to leverage our knowledge base and our networks of business and investing experts to advance the commercialization process of promising new technologies and startup companies in Indiana. Secondly, it provides VisionTech Angels with a solid deal flow of investment opportunities in healthcare, a hot space to be. It also opens the door for a more collaborative effort to provide investment opportunities to a qualified network of investors in the Community Health Network.

Innovations

Indianapolis, Indiana, February 11, 2015 – – Community Launchpad and VisionTech Partners have announced a new partnership to develop and advance healthcare innovations.

“Today, two strong organizations that understand the value of collaboration to advance healthcare innovations through commercialization and start-ups have come together,” said Pete Turner, vice president of innovation for Community Launchpad. “The collaboration will focus on identifying emerging medical innovations, where both organizations can mutually apply their skills, programs and networks to bring opportunities to the marketplace.”

Community Launchpad is an innovation accelerator and division of Visionary Enterprises, Inc., the wholly-owned, for-profit subsidiary of Community Health Network. VisionTech Partners is an Indianapolis-based company focused on connecting investors to high-potential, early-stage companies. VisionTech Partners’ angel investing arm, VisionTech Angels, has chapters in Indianapolis, Lafayette, Bloomington and Warsaw, as well as a virtual angel group.

“Community Launchpad brings the engaged healthcare providers critical to the process of new innovation,” said Oscar Moralez, managing director of VisionTech Partners. “This partnership will enrich our shared goals of identifying promising opportunities and providing support to advance the commercialization process.”

The agreement includes providing potential pathways to support startup activity, including coaching for entrepreneurs, identifying subject matter expertise, and supporting inventors who are participating in business competitions, seminars and other programs.

“Catalyzing value-added partnerships is a differentiator for Community Launchpad,” said Turner. “As an emerging start-up, Launchpad’s ability to expand knowledge and resources through the experience and expertise of VisionTech Partners increases our capacity to improve healthcare delivery and advance our entrepreneurial platform.”

Back in the 60’s and 70’s, kids wanted to be cowboys, firemen, teachers, doctors, and nurses. (Or so I’m told.) Me personally? I wanted to be an astronaut. Now young people want to be entrepreneurs. Where did that come from?

Perhaps the inspiration is Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. What started in a dorm room by a kid is now a global phenomenon and Wall Street darling. Its stock is currently trading at $76 per share and Zuckerberg is a billionaire. Maybe it’s some other tech success. Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates is the wealthiest person on the planet. Likewise, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had a healthy bank account as well as the satisfaction of seeing his ideas impact the world. Who wouldn’t want that?

Whatever it is, many university students have a deep interest in becoming entrepreneurs. Recognizing this, the Indiana University of School of Informatics and Computing and VisionTech Partners recently signed an agreement to help IU students, faculty and staff realize this dream. We’re branding it “INVisionU.”

Bobby Schnabel is the dean of the IU School of Informatics and Computing and believes the agreement will help strengthen the innovation ecosystem at IU. He points to the brilliant minds at IU, who with a little coaching and real-world knowledge, just might create and commercialize the next transformative technology. All they need is a little help from their friends at VisionTech.

The format is simple. Once a month, I will be meeting with IU Bloomington students and faculty one-on-one to discuss their information technology-based ideas and/or technology. The sessions are free, and the goal is to identify opportunities with merit and then provide mentoring support, practical business formation information, insight from a “real” entrepreneur, and eventually provide industry and/or investor connections.

I am pleased to report that all registrations for the initials January INVisionU sessions were filled less than 24 hours from posting and the February time slots are quickly filling up. This is a clear validation of the tremendous desire and pent-up demand for this innovative new program.

Why is VisionTech doing this? One reason is that the mission of VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels is to serve as the convergence point for inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, universities, and strategic partners to develop, fund, and launch innovative technologies. The second reason is more personal. Finding “diamonds in the rough,” whether inventor or the technology itself, is my passion. I enjoy making things happen.

And who knows, we might discover the next Facebook, Microsoft or Apple.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind., January 29, 2015 – – Some of the biggest, most transformative ideas come out of America’s universities. Think Facebook and Gatorade. Yet too often, bridging the gap between academia and business proves too much for even the best ideas.

With the aim of filling that gap, VisionTech Partners and the Indiana University (IU) School of Informatics and Computing have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together to accelerate opportunities for IU student, faculty, and staff inventors and entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize information technology-based or life sciences-based business ideas via new venture creation.

Bobby Schnabel, Dean of the IU School of Informatics and Computing, explained that the agreement will help strengthen the innovation ecosystem at IU. “We have a tremendous wealth of creative, intelligent people at IU who, with focused mentoring from VisionTech Partners in the areas of entrepreneurship and business formation, have the potential to develop and commercialize the next transformative idea or technology. The opportunities are here; we want to capitalize on them.”

Indianapolis-based VisionTech Partners and VisionTech Angels are focused on converging together inventors, entrepreneurs, investors, universities, and strategic partners to develop, fund, and launch innovative technologies. VisionTech has a long-standing relationship with the IU Kelley School of Business, often partnering to educate investors, entrepreneurs, the business community and public on business formation and angel investing.

VisionTech Partners Managing Partner Don Scifres is an experienced entrepreneur, having successfully mentored and raised millions of dollars in capital for Indiana-based startup companies. He said VisionTech Partners is eager to partner with IU to identify and polish “diamonds in the rough” with commercial potential.

“Universities are important sources of new technologies and business startups,” said Scifres. “Our expertise is in helping entrepreneurs develop their ideas in order to attract investor interest and assisting in identifying and participating in high quality investment opportunities. VisionTech looks forward to working with Dean Schnabel and his staff in finding those promising technologies and emerging ventures at IU where we can mutually apply our skills, programs, and networks to advance ventures and increase their potential for success.”

Under the MOU, VisionTech Partners may also provide coaching for student, faculty and staff entrepreneurs; assistance with identifying potential investors and other resources to support commercialization; and participate in IU-associated competitions, seminars and other programs designed to assist in the growth of entrepreneurial successes from the School of Informatics and Computing. VisionTech Angels’ Bloomington Chapter President Christy Page is another resource available to IU entrepreneurs and potential investors.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Donald Kuratko, the academic director of the IU Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, said, “Relationships like this one that embed an entrepreneurial culture in the university are essential to making academics and students think and act more like entrepreneurs. The integration of philosophies, respective knowledge and networks, and a formal structure will encourage and promote more successful spin-off technologies and startup companies from IU. This MOU benefits everyone involved: IU, VisionTech, and all of our academic entrepreneurs who need the right environment and support to flourish.”

Kuratko is a prominent scholar and national leader in the field of entrepreneurship. Under his leadership and with one of the most prolific entrepreneurship research faculties in the world, IU is consistently ranked the number one Business School for Entrepreneurship Research, the number one Graduate Business School for Entrepreneurship and the number one Undergraduate Business School for Entrepreneurship (Public Institutions) by U.S. News & World Report and Fortune magazine.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., January 12, 2015 – – VisionTech Partners, a privately held company focused on linking investors to high-potential early-stage/early growth companies, has added two prominent Indiana entrepreneurs to its leadership team. Tony Petrucciani, CEO and founder of Single Source Systems, Inc., has joined VisionTech Partners as a managing partner. David Helmer, owner and co-founder of Helmer Scientific, has joined as a general partner.

The additions of Petrucciani and Helmer create more bench strength and expertise for VisionTech Partners and its Angel investing group, VisionTech Angels, in the areas of information technology and life sciences, industries of particular strength in Indiana and areas of investing interest for VisionTech.

Oscar Moralez, VisionTech Partners founder and managing director, said the timing could not be better for expansion. “The State of Indiana has worked through the difficult economy by creating a very pro-business environment, which in turn is attracting capital to our state and encouraging startups. Adding seasoned businesspeople like Tony and David to our team strengthens VisionTech’s position as Indiana’s premier resource of capital for young companies and deal flow for investors.”

Don Scifres, VisionTech Partners co-founder and managing partner, said the group is working closely with Indiana’s universities in mentoring student and faculty entrepreneurs primarily in the areas of information technology, engineering and biotechnology. “Tony and David have both started companies that have experienced decades of success and both are committed to assisting the next generation of entrepreneurs. They are an asset not just to VisionTech, but to university partners like Purdue and Indiana University that are looking to inject ‘real world’ entrepreneurship into their cultures.”

Petrucciani has been an entrepreneur since his last year in college, founding Single Source Systems in Fishers, Indiana, in 1985. After participating in custom developed solutions for more than 300 customers, he led Single Source to develop standard add-on solutions. Today, more than 650 companies have licensed SM-Plus worldwide, the company’s solution for service management companies.

Petrucciani earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Spanish from Ball State University. He is a graduate of Birthing of Giants, an entrepreneurial executive leadership program sponsored by M.I.T. University and INC Magazine. His company was twice named to the INC 500. Petrucciani has also been recognized among Indianapolis’ 40 under 40.

Helmer is the owner and co-founder of Helmer Scientific, located in Noblesville, Indiana. Founded in 1977, Helmer Scientific is a manufacturer and worldwide distributor of laboratory equipment for the clinical and research markets. Helmer earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is a founding principal in Collaborosity, which advances purposeful, entrepreneurial leaders and their organizations toward higher levels of capability and contribution, and the executive director of Helmer Generosity Initiatives, an international philanthropic/volunteer effort within Helmer Scientific that is focused on providing aid and justice for poor and marginalized people. He is also a mentor in Praxis’ national Business Accelerator Program.