Cultivating Opportunity – Exploring a Decade of Angel Investing
Laura Hill is one of SWAN’s most experienced investors, and been an active Angel investor for 10 years. Listen to this webinar to learn what her investing experience has taught her.
Laura Hill is one of SWAN’s most experienced investors, and been an active Angel investor for 10 years. Listen to this webinar to learn what her investing experience has taught her.
SWAN is pleased to announce participation in Vartega’s recent $10M preferred equity financing round led by Diamond Edge Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of the Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG).
Vartega’s proprietary recycling processes enable the recovery and conversion of high-performance carbon fiber used in advanced materials for aerospace components, automotive parts, and wind turbine blades. The company’s innovative approach reduces waste and provides manufacturers with a sustainable source of high-quality recycled carbon fiber via Vartega’s EasyFeed Bundles known as Fenix Fiber and Fenix Fiber+™.
More about this latest funding round can be found HERE.
This round marks the third time SWAN members have invested in Vartega, with previous rounds being in 2021 and 2023.
Under “new” IRS Section 174 capitalization rules, a portion of R&D expenses cannot be expensed for tax purposes in the year when they are incurred. Rather, current-year R&D expenses get spread out over several tax years, including years when early revenue might have resulted in a positive net income.
For example, a hypothetical startup incurred a $350,000 income tax bill in a year when GAAP accounting showed that they were unprofitable. That $350,000 payment to the IRS burned investor-provided funds that could not be used to grow the company.
Melinda Oster, CPA and highly experienced Tax Partner at Atchley and Associates, discussed 174 in an informative webinar which covered:
The SWAN Impact Network is pleased to announce a follow-on investment in the recent convertible note round for Elevation Home Energy.
With a goal to make homes more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gases, Elevation (which purchased SWAN portfolio company Curb Energy in 2020) offers a unique combination of solar, energy efficiency, and energy monitoring technology to provide homeowners with the most complete solution for smarter home energy with lower carbon usage. Curb connects to a home’s electrical system to give real-time data that enables a homeowner to make smarter decisions about how energy is used in their home.
SWAN first invested in Curb in 2019 and has continued to invested in private company Elevation after Elevation acquired Curb in 2020.
SWAN is pleased to announce an investment in Aiki, an app that harnesses technology for two-way communication in school safety situations.
Aiki’s app safeguards school campuses from active shooters, providing rapid alerts, training, and coaching for students. In less than 4 seconds, the system’s advanced algorithms deliver critical lockdown instructions and real-time crisis maps, allowing first responders to pinpoint areas requiring immediate attention through heat maps. The app also allows two-way communication between building occupants and first responders, enhancing response accuracy and efficiency.
SWAN Impact Network is pleased to announce a follow-on investment in Eisana.
Eisana is an oncology solution company providing a platform for multiple products to address cancer treatment issues, including a patent-pending, cryo-compression device for hands and feet to wear before, during, and after infusion to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
They are also developing a patent pending, state-of-the-art scalp cooling device to wear before, during, and after infusion to prevent chemotherapy-induced hair loss. The device is portable and can cool for long periods of time, necessary to have success even for drugs that take longer to leave the body.
SWAN previously invested in the company earlier in 2023.
SWAN Impact Network is pleased to announce participation in Yotta Energy’s recent $8M funding round led by Evergy Ventures and with participation from strategic investors BlueScope and Cricetus Felix Ventures and existing investors Copec WIND Ventures, EDP Ventures, Doral Tech Ventures.
Yotta Energy, a leading provider of innovative solar+storage solutions, will use the funding to help the company scale up manufacturing and accelerate the deployment of its SolarLEAF battery technology for commercial buildings.
More about the latest funding round can be found HERE.
SWAN participated in previous funding rounds with the company in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
SWAN Impact Network is pleased to announce a follow-on investment in Advanced Ionics’ recent Series A Round.
Advanced Ionics, which develops a new category of hydrogen electrolyzers useful for expanding green hydrogen production, recently closed a $12.5 million Series A funding round led by bp ventures, with additional investors including Clean Energy Ventures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and GVP Climate.
The new funding round will help catalyze Advanced Ionics’ growth and facilitate the initial deployment of its Symbion water vapor electrolyzer technology for heavy industry. And water vapor electrolyzers address two of the biggest obstacles to expanding green hydrogen production: cost and electricity requirements.
More about the latest funding round can be found HERE.
SWAN participated in earlier funding rounds of the company in 2021.
SWAN is thrilled to announce Todd Litton as the new Houston Chapter Lead. For more than 20 years, Todd has worked in the Houston region in and across the legal, business, nonprofit/education, and political sectors. He has been able to leverage his extensive experience and expertise across these sectors to innovate and formulate partnerships and pathways that led to positive results for organizations and the community as a whole. Todd earned his B.A. degree from Duke University, his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law, and his MBA from Rice University. He met his wife Jennifer Litton, a breast cancer doctor and researcher, at Duke. They live in the Rice/Medical Center area with their three children (though two have recently started college) and their dog. Todd believes the Houston region and its people are perfectly positioned to invest in and nurture the development of companies and entrepreneurs and is excited to focus on building the SWAN network in Houston.
Interim Houston Chapter Lead Valerie Tompson will continue her valuable contributions to SWAN as the Director of Communications.
SWAN is pleased to announce follow-on funding in Hubly Surgical, which recently raised $3 million in an oversubscribed Funding Round.
In May 2023, Hubly Surgical announced that HUBLY DRILL, the first and only single-use cranial drill with advanced features for safety and efficiency in any setting, is FDA-cleared and now available for sale. Read more HERE.
Following FDA Clearance, this investment comes primarily from the Hubly commission-only distributor sales force, pre-existing investors, and the neurosurgeons and physicians who share the company’s vision.
SWAN previously invested in Hubly in 2021.