Mid-America Angels set for second consecutive record-breaking year
July 18, 2016 | Bobby Burch
The Mid-America Angels is poised to make 2016 a record-breaking year.
The area investment group already has deployed $1.7 million via seven deals in the first six months of 2016, setting pace for its biggest year of investment in its ten-year history. In 2015, the firm set a record for its amount of capital deployed, dishing out $2.8 million via 9 investments.
In total, MAA has provided more than $20 million in capital to early-stage firms since 2006.
“Over the past ten years, we have been proud to support the growth of Kansas City’s early-stage companies through the deployment of private capital,” MAA managing director Rick Vaughn said in a release. “This year, we are on pace to support the growth of more Kansas City companies than ever before, and perhaps most importantly, our membership is growing as more investors begin to recognize the potential of early-stage investment as an asset class.”
In 2016, MAA invested in JobShakers, an employee referral software application and Tomboy Exchange, an apparel company. Other deals in 2016 provided follow-on capital to MAA’s existing portfolio companies, including Elias Animal Health, TVAX Biomedical, Nitride Solutions, Metactive Medical and Hilary’s Eat Well.
Seattle-based Tomboy Exchange is a new portfolio firm for MAA. It joined in a round led by the Women’s Capital Connection, which invested $115,000 in the company. Tomboy sells women’s underwear, clothing, jewelry and bags.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
‘Get a glimpse of your future’ — Investors want data with your pitch
Editor’s Note: This content is sponsored by Mid-Continent Public Library but independently produced by Startland News. For more on the tools discussed in this article, click here. Imagine this. Your wearable tech firm is thriving — so much, in fact, that you need an injection of investment capital to maintain sustainable growth. You’ve booked some…
Launch It Successfully hopes to reduce early stage frustration, struggle for startups
A new accelerator program produced by key leaders of software development firm Illumisoft is helping innovators start their businesses by “cutting through the nonsense,” said Tyler Prince. “We want to help entrepreneurs succeed,” he said. “I think we live in an age when change happens so rapidly.” Launch It Successfully’s goal is to assist early…
Is government helping startups enough? Founders feel isolated, Kauffman survey finds
Early stage entrepreneurs struggle with the technical steps to getting started, a new Kauffman survey found, and founders don’t believe the government is helping them. The prevailing sentiment that entrepreneurs view themselves as isolated from assistance is understandable, said Melissa Roberts, vice president of strategy and economic development at the Enterprise Center in Johnson County.…
Kauffman survey: Women more critical of their own early-stage entrepreneurial efforts
Women entrepreneurs are more likely than their male counterparts to grade their performances harshly during the first year of business, though that tendency typically fades over time, according to a new survey by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. It often is about approaching the venture a realistic viewpoint, said Jeff Shackelford, executive director of Digital…