Welcome to the February edition of the Newsletter where we are delighted to report that, despite the negative commentary on the funding environment, our 2024 has started very strongly. During the month of January, NYA members invested over $2M, both in new as well as follow-on rounds, which are detailed below. This not only represents a significant increase on last January but is also close to a record month for our group.
Also in this edition we meet with Daniel Schindler, CEO & Founder of Buoy Hydration, and sit down with long-term NYA Member David Hemenway. We share the latest news from portfolio companies (including U.S. Integrity and Membrion) and NYA Members share their 2024 Resolutions for angel investing. Finally, Karthik Krishnan, shares his perspectives on AI.
With so much going on in the group, we are looking for new members. If you have ever considered becoming an Angel Investor, please visit our website (www.newyorkangels.com) to learn more.
JANUARY INVESTMENTS
NYA Members invested over $2.1m in January, which is
close to a record amount for a single month.
JANUARY INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
FUTURESTAY
Futurestay is a cloud-based rental management solution that helps property owners manage their rental business. Because of its easy-to-use interface, it has become known as the Operating System for Short-Term Rentals. Futurestay empowers thousands of independent managers around the world with a simple roadmap to build, grow, and optimize their short-term rental business. Futurestay makes it easier to manage short-term rentals on Airbnb, Vrbo, Google Vacation Rentals and booking.com. New York Angels members invested again in 2024 after making initial investments in 2020 and 2022 in the company. The deal was led by Barbara Moore.
ATRAVERSE
In May 2023, NYA members first invested in Atraverse's Series Seed round. Eight short months later, NYA members now invested in its Series Seed II. The Atraverse team exemplifies the classic formula for medical device innovation – combine a talented and experienced engineer (Eric Sauter) with a practicing clinician inventor (Dr. Steven Mickelson) and serial entrepreneur (John Slump). They identified the opportunity to develop an improved transseptal crossing system, which makes related procedures faster, simpler, safer, and less expensive through technology and a regulatory pathway well within the capabilities of a lean startup. Their prior experience not only confirms their technical capability in this regard, but also their clear-eyed vision of how to build this venture from a cold start into an attractive acquisition candidate for any of several major medical device companies. Atraverse has already have seen swift progress over the course of a year, as they expanded their portfolio of advisors, investigators, and investors from leading cardiovascular institutions, and filed for regulatory clearance of their lead device. The deal was led by Mauri Rosenthal and Hugh Cullman.
COMMUNITY GAMING
Community Gaming is an esports tournament platform, building efficient payment infrastructure to enable gamers to earn and achieve. CommunityGaming.io combines social gaming, match automation, and blockchain payment technology to make it easy to organize tournaments. NYA individual members invested in Community Gaming's seed round in 2021 as gaming will continue to help drive the future of blockchain. The deal was led by Bruce Hack and Ed Levine.
HEALIONICS
Healionics is a clinical-stage company addressing the critical need for safer, more reliable means of bloodstream access to perform dialysis in patients with kidney failure. Their proprietary STARgraft vascular graft (synthetic blood vessel) is designed to resist the problems of infection and occlusion suffered by current devices. The deal was led by Vic Mitchell.
FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT
Daniel Schindler, Founder and CEO of Buoy, started his career as a software consultant for a dealership management company, but quickly pivoted to become an entrepreneur. Daniel pursued his MBA in Entrepreneurship at Washington University, and during his program, he developed the idea of Buoy - a purposefully unfavored blend of electrolytes that could be added into any type of drinks. Daniel assembled a network of pharmaceutical experts, mentors and focus-group participants to turn Buoy from a passion project into a company.
COMPANY NEWS
U.S. INTEGRITY
LIV Golf announced a partnership with U.S. Integrity to monitor the betting market, educate its participants and use technology to spot improper gambling on its events. U.S. Integrity will provide compliance services and give LIV Golf access to ProhiBet, a technology that detects prohibited bettors attempting to wager on events. Read ESPN Coverage
COMPANY NEWS
MEMBRION
Membrion was named Top Innovator of the World Economic Forum Zero Water Waste Challenge - a water-focused innovation initiative with a $2 million prize to accelerate new technology adoption. ~200 companies were considered from all over the world, and Membrion was selected as one of only two recipients with headquarters in the United States. Read Announcement
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
David Hemenway has been a New York Angel member for 12 years. Before becoming an angel investor, he had started his first business out of college, and he successfully bootstrapped three businesses to successful exits. David also built The Persuase Sales and Marketing Training Program for Entrepreneurs, Professionals and Fundraisers and he now is the Founder and host of The Angel Nest Podcast, which focuses on how entrepreneurs partner with investors to build great companies.
MEMBER PERSPECTIVES NYA MEMBERS' RESOLUTIONS FOR 2024
January has proved to me more of an adrenaline rush as opposed to hangover for NYA members, based upon January's investments, but what have our Members resolved to do differently in 2024. In this article, our Members share a range of resolutions from better evaluating management teams, to being more active in the NYA organization, and spending more time with founders. Read NYA Members' 2024 Resolutions
MEMBER PERSPECTIVES
KARTHIK KRISHNAN
The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a hype but a pivotal factor in driving innovation and maintaining competitive advantage. Much like the Internet redefined industries and created new industries, AI is likely to transform industries and businesses on an unprecedented scale. While the Internet enables communication and information sharing at near-zero cost, AI enables automation and decision-making. The powerful combination of Internet and AI creates both opportunities (mass personalization to new business models) and challenges (data privacy to cultural resistance). Explore how companies can build the necessary competencies to not only survive but also thrive in the AI era. Read Full Article from NYA Member Karthik Krishnan
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL SHEENA IYENGAR
Sheena Iyengar spoke to NYA Members at our January Forum on how to create out of the box thinking. Sheena is the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Division at Columbia Business School, and a world expert on choice and decision-making. Learn More About Sheena's Research
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
WITHUM 2023 TAX PREP FOR FOUNDERS
Last month, Withum held an extremely beneficial tax and accounting tips session for NYA members. Keep an eye out for the next session, this time for founders, where Withum will share advice for founders to help them through tax season. Read about Withum's Services
FORBES NATURE ON THE FRONTLINES AT DAVOS 2024
This year’s Davos theme was centered around ‘rebuilding trust amid uncertainty’. ‘A long-term strategy for Climate, Nature and Energy’ was pinned as one of the event’s top themes - critical, given that over half of the world’s GDP, $44 trillion, is highly or moderately dependent on nature. During the conference, the Task Force on Nature-related Disclosure’s (TNFD) announced that 320 ‘early adopters’ from over 46 countriesare beginning to use the TNFD recommendations and frameworks for nature reporting. This group, representing over US$4 trillion in market capitalization, includes some of the world’s largest asset owners and managers, banks and insurers.
Investment Forum (Hybrid):
• February 21st (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM)
March Screening (Hybrid):
• March 4th (9:00 AM - 1:00 PM)
FOUNDER DEADLINES
March Screening Application:
• Due Feb 12th
*New York Angels, Inc. ("NYA") is a not-for-profit corporation that is funded by membership dues for individuals and/or entities that NYA has designated as members as well as from certain sponsors. Its purposes include providing administrative support to its members. NYA does not invest in companies. Investments, if made, are made by individual members of NYA.
