RVC invested in another ten companies during June, July, and August, bringing the angel group’s total investment in 2020 to nineteen businesses.
DENVER (PRWEB) September 14, 2020
The longest-running angel investor group in the U.S., Rockies Venture Club (RVC), has continued to remain active during the Pandemic by supporting and investing in early-stage startup companies. RVC invested in another ten companies during June, July, and August, bringing the angel group’s total investment in 2020 to nineteen businesses. The summer months have historically been a slow period for startup fundraising, and on top of that, many have been awaiting the funding slowdown from the Pandemic. One reason is that traditionally, angel investing requires face-to-face meetings to build relationships, conduct diligence, and make investments. The Pandemic has shifted RVC investors and other angel groups towards connecting with and investing in entrepreneurs virtually. That shift has had little impact on investment dollars, however.
Rockies Venture Club closed venture deals with Cerahelix, Wander & Ivy, TermScout, PharmaJet, CurvaFix, Spine Align, Steelhead Composites, LiftEd, StemoniX, and Starfire Energy over the summer.
One of the ten companies that RVC invested in during this period is the Baltimore, Maryland-based medical device company, Spine Align. Spine Align is developing a spinal visualization and assessment platform for spinal surgeons to rapidly generate 3D assessments of intraoperative spinal alignment with minimal disruption to the surgical workflow. Though RVC is based in Colorado, the group ended up leading an oversubscribed seed round for Spine Align, which also included co-investors from California to Louisiana. The deal provides a compelling use case for raising capital during a lockdown period. The majority of the Spine Align investors never met the company’s founders in person, rather engaging entirely through video conference platforms, like Zoom.
Spine Align’s CEO and Co-Founder, Amir Soltanianzadeh shared, “We could not have envisioned a better partner than RVC to lead this funding round and help us cultivate extensive angel interest from across the country via an entirely virtual medium. The oversubscription to this round is testament to the excellent support of the organization's leadership and members. With RVC by our side, we are more ready than ever to revolutionize modern spine surgery.”
RVC kept up its investment cadence in August when the angel group and non-profit organization hosted their 32nd annual Colorado Capital Conference. This marked the first time in the conference’s history that the event was entirely virtual, and it featured nine startups pitching to investors, alongside keynote and special address speakers like Brad Feld of the Foundry Group and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. Of the nine that pitched, two have already received investment from RVC as of the end of August.