Participated · Series A · Mar 2021

Founders First Capital Partners is a San Diego-based revenue-based finance and advisory support investment platform serving underserved small businesses. The company combines an accelerator model — including educational curriculum and expert coaching — with direct funding through proprietary accelerator programs and a learning platform. Its growth methodologies aim to transition service-based businesses into $5M to $50M recurring revenue, tech-enabled companies while offering high-yield investments for fund LPs that perform like bonds but generate returns on par with equity. Founders First runs multiple cohort programs (three through the Founders Business Growth Bootcamp and four through the FastPath Funding Growth Experience) and works with hundreds of entrepreneurs each year. Over the past five years it has supported more than 400 companies and reports an average of 25% year-over-year growth among those businesses. The company is led by Founder and CEO Kim Folsom.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2013

AngelList Venture operates a fundraising and platform business that connects angels, solo general partners, and limited partners with founders and provides software to manage back‑office logistics for funds and deals. The company’s platform grew rapidly during the pandemic as new angel investors and solo VCs entered the market; AngelList oversaw about $10 billion of customer assets moving through its platform in 2021, up from $3 billion in 2020. Its seed and early‑stage focus is complemented by product additions for founders, including a roll up vehicle (RUV) introduced last year that more than 1,100 startups used in the last 12 months. AngelList estimates roughly 85% of its business remains with general and limited partners. Leadership says the company is still growing aggressively, though it is monitoring potential broader venture‑market slowdowns amid public‑market volatility. AngelList began as a curated mailing list and has evolved into a platform that facilitates seed‑stage fundraising by matching accredited angels with startups. The company reports it has about 21,000 investors on the platform and that 1,300 companies have successfully raised funding through it. AngelList says it has facilitated roughly $200 million in investments — $186 million via introductions and $14 million through its newer “invest online” product. The company is building out revenue streams tied to that product, including a 10% carry fee on returns from deals made through the platform. Founders Naval Ravikant and Babak Nivi have emphasized maintaining neutrality, retaining board control, and placing an angel representative on the board rather than a venture firm. AngelList continues to roll out additional product releases to expand its monetization and distribution capabilities.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2011

Aratana Therapeutics is focused on developing novel medicines for companion animals, specifically cats and dogs. The company holds worldwide animal-health rights to three patent-protected compounds—two acquired from RaQualia Pharma Inc. and one from Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. It is advancing those compounds to address osteoarthritis-related pain, inappetence and frailty, and post-surgical pain. Aratana is led by President and CEO Steven St. Peter, M.D. The company intends to use the Series C proceeds to continue expanding its product pipeline. The business is based in Kansas City, KS. Aratana Therapeutics develops innovative, patent‑protected medicines for companion animals, acquiring compounds from human pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The company licenses and develops those compounds and then out‑licenses or partners with major animal health firms for commercialization. It intends to use new capital to expand its product pipeline and to in‑license and develop novel medicines for dogs and cats. Leadership is led by CEO Dr. Linda Rhodes and President & COO David K. Rosen, DVM. Financially, the company has raised capital this year including a $20M Series A and additional financing described below, bringing total capital raised to $31M. Aratana Therapeutics is a newly-formed company based in Kansas City, Kansas focused on developing innovative therapies for the animal health industry. The company’s core activity is the development of new therapeutic products for animals. It closed a $20m Series A financing to support its work. The round was led by MPM Capital and Avalon Ventures with participation from the Kansas Bioscience Authority. As part of the transaction Dr. Steven St. Peter (MPM) and Jay Lichter (Avalon) will join Aratana’s board, which also includes Ron Meeusen. Dr. Linda Rhodes, founder and vice-president of clinical development at AlcheraBio, will join Aratana as CEO in February 2011, and Dr. David Rosen is President and Founder.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2011

NextDigest operates a network of 14 expertly curated email newsletters that surface top articles, events, jobs and educational content for leaders in technology verticals. The service reaches over 250,000 subscribers worldwide and is designed to save busy decision makers time by delivering hand-picked content. NextDigest is the parent company of StartupDigest, which helps entrepreneurs find the best local startup events and educational content. The company plans to use recent funding to expand its weekly newsletter network into new technology verticals. Founded in 2009 and based in San Francisco, NextDigest positions itself as an expert-driven media company for fast-growing tech sectors. Recently announced financing provides capital to support that expansion.

Led · Equity · Mar 2011

StartupDigest is an email newsletter service co-founded in late 2009 that curates startup news and events for entrepreneurs. It operates with a team of curators working around the world and serves subscribers in over 50 cities. The service has grown from 22 initial subscribers to over 120,000. StartupDigest is a free service and produces tactical technology entrepreneurship education videos for distribution through its platform. The company plans to use new funding to hire a managing editor, expand to more cities and verticals, and scale video production and distribution worldwide. The Kauffman Foundation provided the reported funding as part of its ongoing support for startup initiatives.