VisionTech Partners

Tag: Indiana Startup Capital

  • SIMBA Chain: Blockchain’s Next Blockbuster?

    SIMBA Chain: Blockchain’s Next Blockbuster?

    VisionTech Angels’ Executive Director Ben Pidgeon recently sat down with Joel Neidig, CEO of SIMBA Chain, to learn more about his company, how it’s disrupting the block chain space and the opportunity that will be presented to our angel investors during October Pitch Week. This is our first pitch company with Notre Dame ties and it’s an impressive one at that. Read on!

    BP: We’ve had other pitch companies with university ties, but never one from Notre Dame. What’s the connection?
    JN: When you think Notre Dame, you probably think football, but a growing number of people are recognizing the robust tech transfer opportunities in South Bend. In 2017, I licensed technology from Notre Dame that resulted in a 3D metal printing software company called Atlas 3D. That company is doing really well so we went back to Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing and licensed the blockchain technology platform that is the core of SIMBA Chain, our new venture in the blockchain space.

    SIMBA Chain was founded and incorporated in 2017 by co-founders Jarek Nabrzyski, director of Notre Dame’s Center for Research Computing, Ian Taylor, a Notre Dame research professor and computational scientist; Gary Neidig; and me. The technology platform was originally developed for DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which awarded a grant to the Center and ITAMCO to develop a secure, unhackable messaging and transaction platform for the U.S. military.

    BP: Block chain is a hot technology space. What is SIMBA Chain’s play?
    JN: Blockchain is best known for underpinning cyber currencies like Bitcoin, but other industries like manufacturing supply chains, health care, energy/smart grids, music licensing, law and government, offer significant opportunities for leveraging blockchain. Up until now, developing blockchains has been very expensive and complex; developers typically have to know multiple languages to code. SIMBA Chain is disrupting the space by offering developers and business and government enterprises a cloud-based, blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that enables users with even minimal technical skill sets to easily and affordably create and implement dapps (decentralized applications) for specific user bases. To put it simply, SIMBA Chain is to blockchains as WordPress is the website development world.

    BP: Why do you think users, including those less familiar with blockchains, will be excited about what you’re doing?
    JN: Blockchains enable secure, direct connections between users and providers. For example, a hospital and its patients, a financial institution and loan holders. Users and providers share resources – they are linked together in a “chain.” This has distinct advantages. First, a blockchain is decentralized; there is no central data server or “middle man” controlling the flow of data and transactions. Eliminating the central hub also means there’s no longer a single point of failure in the event of hacking or other cyber threat. The blockchain can’t be altered; once a transaction is verified, it’s combined with others to create a new block. The data is very secure, and less subject to cyber threats, which makes blockchains attractive for any industry handling sensitive personal, financial, or mission critical data subject to cyber threats.

    What’s exciting about SIMBA Chain is we’re making blockchain technology accessible in terms of development, cost, speed, and security to those who want to deploy it. We eliminate third parties so users and providers connect more efficiently, have more control over the relationship and a lower transaction cost. Our platform is also very flexible and user friendly. Users choose their network, file storage, create their smart contract, and they’re ready to deploy their dapp.

    BP: In addition to DARPA, Notre Dame and ITAMCO, you have an impressive list of partners.
    JN: We sure do. When Microsoft, NavAir, and the U.S. Department of Energy came on board, we knew we had something. SIMBA Chain is also a “Partner of Choice” of the Government Blockchain Association, which is instant credibility among government enterprises, and has partnered with BlockGeek, which has 100,000 members who are developers.

    BP: You have a very active pipeline. Tell us about it.
    JN: We are actively recruiting developers on our website and the response is great; developers are the early adopters. Our enterprise client list is strong and includes Dow, HealthSpace and EY, which is remarketing to their clients. We’re in discussions with other recognizable enterprises, both corporate and government. Currently, we have more than $1 million in revenue on the books. 

    BP: What is your revenue model?
    JN: Very simple. Like SaaS, our revenue model is subscriptions for developers with the cost based on the number of transactions per month. For business and government enterprises, we offer custom engagements.

    BP: What’s your goal for VisionTech Angels Pitch Week, October 22-25?
    JN: Getting in that car with you and touring Indiana! (Laughs) Pitch Week is a great opportunity to tell our story, answer questions, and ultimately, move us closer to closing a $2 million investment round. While in its infancy, the blockchain industry is moving quickly and we need to finalize our go-to-market strategy, make key hires and assemble what will be a massive team of developers. SIMBA Chain represents a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what is projected to be a $2.3 billion industry by 2021.

    VisionTech Angels October Pitch Week is open to our members and their guests. If you are an accredited investor and would like to attend, please contact Ben Pidgeon at bpidgeon@visiontech-partners.com.

  • PPC Pro and Hero Conference Founder Is Also VisionTech Angels’ PPC Expert

    VisionTech Angels’ bi-monthly pitch weeks have a stealth expert in the audience listening to startup companies present their case for funding.

    He listens with neutral interest. But when a presenter starts talking about pay per click (PPC) or digital advertising, he leans forward, expression suddenly serious, intent on the speaker. He holds his thoughts until the presenter leaves the room. His insight is invaluable to other VisionTech Angels considering investing in early growth companies.

    The stealth expert is Pat East, president of VisionTech Angels’ Bloomington chapter and also founder of one of the nation’s top five PPC marketing agencies and its top industry event, the Hero Conference. He started his company when the digital marketing industry was in its infancy. Now Pat and his colleagues at Hanapin Marketing advise a client base that includes The Home Depot, The Weather Channel, Uggs, Shoe Carnival, and Purdue University.

    One of Pat’s hot buttons during pitch week is how presenters often overestimate how easy PPC advertising is and how effective it will be. This from a person whose strategy helped Icelandair increase its flight bookings by 80 percent.

    “When I hear a presenter say they got an estimate from an agency and this is how many leads they will generate when they get funding, it’s a red flag. You don’t just turn on pay per click and your business takes off,” says Pat. “There’s a tremendous amount of research, messaging, testing, retesting, and analysis that makes a PPC campaign work.”

    On the flip side, Pat’s surprised to hear companies say they’re not using PPC, retargeting website visitors and converting them into leads. “It’s the best way to generate leads and reduce the costs associated with lead generation.”

    He should know. In 2000 when he was working for another company, he started dabbling in PPC before Google was GOOGLE. At his suggestion, his boss bought a single keyword and soon the company had quintupled its leads for a fraction of the cost. The company saw its sales grow from $6 million a year to $20 million. In 2004, Pat opened Hanapin Marketing; his former boss was his first client.

    Since then, Pat and Hanapin Marketing have become one of the industry’s most gracious ambassadors. In addition to freely sharing their expertise and knowledge through blogs and webinars, they sponsor the Hero Conference, the world’s largest PPC conference series. This year the events are in Austin (April 16-18) and London (October 22-24). Attendees come from around the world to learn the latest in PPC and digital advertising from innovators and thought leaders from Google, Bing, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and more.

    Pat’s other passion is angel investing. He joined VisionTech Angels in 2014 because of a desire to support entrepreneurs in Bloomington and across Indiana. VisionTech Angels Executive Director Ben Pidgeon says having Pat as a chapter president and resident PPC expert is beneficial to his fellow investors, pitch companies and portfolio companies (those receiving VisionTech Angels investments).

    “With so many companies relying on digital advertising to drive sales, we are fortunate to have an industry pioneer like Pat. His knowledge base is invaluable when we’re evaluating investment opportunities or providing advice to our portfolio companies,” said Ben. “The more informed our members are, the better our investment decisions.”

    Would you like to know more about using pay per click advertising to launch or grow your start-up company or existing business? Or, are you an angel investor who wants to amp up your knowledge base? Hanapin Marketing’s next Hero Conference is April 16-18 in Austin, Texas. Learn more and register here.

    Editor’s Note: One VisionTech Angel is attending Hero Conference in April. Stay tuned!

  • Former FDA regulatory scientist joins Pearl Pathways, a VisionTech Sponsor

    INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – January 18, 2018— Pearl Pathways announces the hiring of Robert Seevers, PhD as senior advisor to serve biopharmaceutical companies.

    Seevers brings over 40 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development for both large and small molecules. His expertise includes CMC regulatory, cold chain shipping, setting global specifications, quality by design (QbD), global regulatory submissions, and interactions with global regulatory agencies. His knowledge spans all major therapeutic areas with specific expertise in CNS, endocrine, metabolism, autoimmune, oncology, radiopharmaceuticals, and drug delivery systems. Seevers’ robust clinical research experience includes acting as a primary investigator, vice-chair of an Institutional Review Board, FDA reviewer/team leader, and medical writer.

    Seevers’ career includes eight years at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At FDA, Seevers served as a team leader responsible for managing a team of reviewers for the evaluation of CMC sections of INDs, NDAs and BLAs. Prior to joining Pearl Pathways, Seevers spent 16 years with Eli Lilly and Company in Regulatory Affairs, where he led the regulatory CMC submission strategy for drugs in preclinical development through their NDA/MAA submission and the approval process for both small and large molecules.

    As senior advisor at Pearl Pathways, Seevers is responsible for the development of the regulatory strategy for early through late-stage regulatory filings of both large and small molecules, interactions with global regulatory agencies, leading cross-functional CMC development teams, and helping clients identify product development vendors (e.g. CROs, CMOs, contract laboratories). He  will serve on Pearl IRB, an AAHRPP accredited Independent Review Board.

    Seevers is a member of the United States Pharmacopeia Packaging, Storing, and Distribution Expert Committee; acts as a Stability Consultant for the World Health Organization (WHO); speaks regularly at nation and international life science conferences; and continues to be an active writer of industry publications.

    Pearl Pathways President and CEO DIana Caldwell shares, “Our clients will benefit from Robert’s unique life science portfolio as an ex-FDA regulator coupled with extensive leadership experience within the biopharmaceutical industry. His dual-sided industry experience will be invaluable for our clients to navigate a variety of regulatory compliance challenges in both large multi-national companies and small startups. He brings expert technical knowledge; we are thrilled to have Robert join our team.”

    Pearl Pathways is a sponsor of VisionTech Partners/VisionTech Angels, Indiana’s most active angel investing group with chapters in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Greater Lafayette, Indianapolis and a physician-led chapter called AngelBOM.

    Contact: Waylon Wright
    Pearl Pathways
    (317) 602-5479
    wwright@pearlpathways.com

  • VisionTech Portfolio Company FAST BioMedical Secures $8 Million in New Funding

    FAST BioMedical Logo

    CARMEL, IND. (May 3, 2017) FAST BioMedical, Inc., a VisionTech Partners portfolio company, announced it has secured $8 million of additional financing. $5 million comes from a Series A2 financing led by one new investor, F&M Investment Office. This financing augments $3 million of grant funding received as a competing renewal award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. The proceeds will primarily be used to advance clinical trials of the company’s technology as well as to hire additional talent and advance the company’s global patent portfolio.

    FAST BioMedical is one of VisionTech Partners original investments, dating back to June 15, 2011 when the angel investing group operated as StepStone.VisionTech Partners has since made follow-on investments in FAST BioMedical through its angel investing group, VisionTech Angels.

    “This financing is an important and validating step to continue our progress,” said FAST BioMedical Chief Executive Officer Joe Muldoon. “We have already begun adding talent to the team, and are excited about their ability to immediately add value.”

    “FAST BioMedical has enormous potential to serve large unmet medical needs with its innovative technology,” said Mr. McClure, President of F&M Investment Office. “We are delighted to partner with them, and see great promise in the ability to favorably impact critical patient care.”

    FAST BioMedical is a private, clinical-stage medical technology company in Carmel, Indiana. The company’s globally patented first-in-class technologies directly measure blood volume and kidney function in a clinically viable way. This has the potential for profound impact on care of congestive heart failure, major surgery, sepsis, critical care, and kidney disease patients. The company has been financially supported by the NIH, Elevate Ventures, the Indiana 21st Century Fund, Rose-Hulman Ventures, BioCrossroads, Indiana University Medical Group, The Purdue Foundry Fund, Ellipsis Ventures, VisionTech Partners, and private family office investors. The FDA has determined the company’s technology meets the requirements for an Expedited Review.

    These products are investigational and not yet approved for human use.

     

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