TiE Oregon Announces Expansion of Its Angel Investment Program with Formation of TAP Fund I
Portland, Oregon (PRWEB) August 12, 2015 -- TiE Oregon, Oregon’s premiere entrepreneur group announces the launch of TAP Fund. This $300,000 side car fund will co-invest with TiE Angels Oregon (TiE Angels) in certain investments to provide additional funding leverage to Oregon entrepreneurs seeking investment from the TiE Angels group.
Oregon Growth Board (OGB) is investing $250,000 in this fund via its Oregon Growth Fund, which was created to provide seed capital to startup finds like TAP. The TAP fund is being created and managed by Nitin Rai as Managing Partner and Vera Sell as Operational Partner. Mr. Rai is currently the President of TiE Oregon and Chair of TiE Angels and Ms. Sell is the Program Director of TiE Angels.
“We are very excited to launch TAP, and leverage funds provided by the State of Oregon. It gives Oregon entrepreneurs additional runway in terms of funding, allowing them to close their funding rounds quickly while incentivizing TiE Angel investors to invest additional funds. It’s all about leverage. So if TiE Angels invest $300,000 in a startup, TAP can invest up to $75,000 along with TiE Angels. Additional investment means more funds to help startups in that early stage, hire more staff to launch and grow their business. We are very thankful to the Oregon Growth Board for their support in our endeavor to grow the economy with wealth creation and high paying jobs. It is encouraging more private investment which will result in better returns for the state” said Nitin Rai.
“Since 2010, TiE Angels has invested over $4 Million in 24 startups in Oregon and our investor group is growing rapidly along with a strong deal flow from entrepreneurs seeking funding, a very healthy sign. Investors are not immune to similarity bias and invest in people like themselves. Therefore we are excited to have a diverse group of investors who make individual decisions via an opt-in process and provide smart money quickly. This along with our collective wisdom via mentoring and guidance to startups has helped us achieve great success in helping startups grow and get healthy returns to not just TiE Angels but all the investors in those startups” said Vera Sell.
TiE Angels has developed an amazing track record. The $4 Million has leveraged another $40 million in further investments in those startups, adding approximately 200 high paying jobs. 4 of the early investments have exited with handsome returns for the investors. This includes Geoloqi, Zapproved, Appthwak and most recently Globe Sherpa, all startups in which TiE Angels led early investment, mentoring and board guidance. Both Geoloqi and Zapproved were led by women CEOs, while Globe Sherpa by an African American co-founder and a woman CFO.
“We are committed to the diversity aspect of our mentoring and investment and proud of what we have achieved so far. Its game changing. The returns from these exits to TiE Angels are now being re-invested in new startups and this is what is needed to grow the startup eco-system. As a result, we were recently recognized with awards for the best performing chapter and best chapter that supports women entrepreneurs by TiE Global. Fifty percent of TiE Oregon’s board members are women. Diversity has been the key to our success and we attract the best of breed to join the organization. While our roots might be from the Indus region, we have truly become the all-inclusive entrepreneurs. We are committed to growing the entrepreneur eco-system across the state and we are expanding into other regions like Willamette Valley! ” said Nitin Rai.
TiE Oregon has also recently doubled its Charter Members to 60, many of whom are successful entrepreneurs. About a third of these charter members actively invest in startups through the TiE Angels program. Some new members include industry veterans such as Sunil Shenoy, former Corporate Vice President at Intel, Steve Sharp, former Chairman of the Board of Triquint Semiconductor, Keith Barnes, private investor and Board Member of Mentor Graphics and Ralph Quinsey currently Chairman of the Board of Qorvo.
Additionally co-founders of recently exited startup Crowd Compass, Dave Shanley, Tom Kingsley and Brian Felder as well as founder/CEO of Giftango, David Nelsen have joined TiE Oregon as Charter Members. Charter Members from the Willamette Valley include John Hull, Asst. Dean at Lundquist College of Business - University of Oregon, Jim Coonan, Executive Director at RAIN, and Eimar Boesjes, CTO/COO of Moonshadow in Eugene.
About TiE Global:
TiE’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally. It’s the world’s largest not for profit entrepreneur group. TiE was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by successful Indian American entrepreneurs. It has since grown to 61 chapters in 18 countries including 13,000 members and 2,500 charter members (mentors and investors). TiE’s call to action includes mentoring, networking, education, incubating, and funding resulting in nearly $200 billion in wealth creation. TiE-fostered entrepreneurs raise 6% of all venture capital in the United States. TiE Angels Worldwide includes twelve angel groups in the USA with over $20 million invested in US startups. The larger TiE Network of Angels expands several countries.
About TiE Oregon:
Formed in 2007, TiE Oregon focuses exclusively on entrepreneurs in Oregon and support them through its mentoring, education and investment program. It also supports a high school entrepreneurship program called TYE (TiE Youth Entrepreneurs) Oregon. TiE Oregon has 200 members (including students) and 60 Charter Members. For more information visit oregon.tie.org
Nitin Rai, TiE Oregon, http://oregon.tie.org, +1 (503) 799-5200, [email protected]
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