Band member Bruce Walicek participated on the August 24th PitchForce panel to offer feedback, mentoring, and guidance to the presenting startups. PitchForce is a monthly fundraising event for startups in software, social, mobile, big data, consumer web, finance/payments, clean tech, biotech or MedTech sectors.
Portfolio News: NGX Bio Raises $3 Million to Fund Growth of Its DNA Sequencing Marketplace
NGX Bio, Inc., (www.NGXbio.com) the premier marketplace for online DNA sequencing services, announced it has closed a $3 million funding round. The round was led by 180 Degree Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TURN) and included Third Kind Venture Capital, Lateral Capital, the Band of Angels and the Berkeley Angel Network, as well as other investors.
NGX Bio was founded in 2014 to provide streamlined, on-line access to next-generation sequencing services for clients seeking high quality, rapid and cost-effective sequencing of both human and non-human samples globally.
Portfolio News: ShotSpotter Goes Public
We have had our 11th Band of Angels portfolio company IPO! ShotSpotter, Inc. (January 2006 Dinner) went public on the NASDAQ on June 7th, 2017 under symbol “SSTI”. SSTI is a gunfire detection and solutions company that triangulates gun fire to within feet of the source, in less than 45 seconds of the trigger being pulled. Where it has been deployed, it has caught criminals, exonerated police in disputed shootings, brought emergency assistance to victims in time to save their lives, and generally reduced gun violence. So in addition to making investors a profit, this company epitomizes the notion of doing well by doing good. Congratulations to Band member Gary Lauder who sponsored the company at the Band back in 2006, where it raised over $300K.
Portfolio News: Chrysler Brand and Kango Announce First-of-its-kind Family Rideshare Service Partnership
The Chrysler brand and Kango, an app-based, on-demand service providing safe, reliable rides and childcare for kids from preschool to high school, today announced a new partnership that will make available new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans for use by eligible Kango drivers. In this first-of-a-kind partnership between a family rideshare service and an automaker in the U.S., the Chrysler brand will make a fleet of new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans available to eligible Kango drivers, for an affordable lease, to promote safety and environmental stewardship and to provide a best-in-class ride.
Portfolio News: AEye Announces $16 Million Series A Funding from Kleiner Perkins, Airbus Ventures and Intel Capital
AEye Inc, a robotic vision pioneer, today announced the close of a $16 million series A venture round from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Airbus Ventures, Intel Capital, Tyche Partners and others. AEye’s advanced vision system is the first to “pre-fuse” solid state LiDAR with computer vision, enabling newfound vision intelligence in autonomous vehicles.