FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Startup Discuss.IO
is Winner of Fifth
Seattle Angel
Conference Investment Competition
Winner receives $155,000 Investment,
33Angel Investors
gain hands on investment training.
SEATTLE, WA. – May 22, 2014
— The Seattle Angel Conference
announced today that Discuss IO was
selected as the winner of its fifth investment competition, held in Seattle, WA, at the 220 and Change in Seattle . Discuss.IO is a Seattle based company that has
been building their market research platform for years. They had participated
in SAC IV in Nov. 2013, and fell short in their goal to win the
investment. This round they showed their
growth, ability to meet their commitments, and solid sales traction, which
impressed the investors. Discuss.IO’s mission
is to simplify consumer market research. They use video conferencing and
crowdsourcing to connect brands and consumers. Discuss.IO will
receive a $155,000 angel award investment from the Seattle Angel Conference V LLC
. Given the strength of the
candidates, the Angel Investors couldn’t let it stop with one winner. SocialGlimpz, another brand marketing
company, focused on visual engagement with consumers won a second investment of
$45,000 from the LLC.
This
event’s finalist companies were selected from over 40 companies based
throughout Washington that applied to compete at the fifth Seattle Angel
Conference. A rigorous selection process (known as due diligence) was
undertaken by the 33 active angel investors to select the winning company. Thirty
to Fifty hours of investigation was performed on each finalist, amounting to
over 240 hours of due diligence. In the
process 15 new Angel Investors were introduced to the investing process. Each
investor staked $5,500 to $10,000 to
create the $200,000 investment award for
this year’s event. This rounds
investment brings the total investment from the Seattle Angel Conference to a
remarkable $835,000 invested in the
local economy and over 100 investors educated about angel investing in just 2.5
years of the Seattle Angel Conference.
“The Seattle
Angel Conference is all about giving new angel investors mentoring, training
and experience, growing the available support and capital for Washington’s many
startups, removing a key bottleneck for the economy,” said John Sechrest,
founder of the Seattle Angel Conference.
“At the same time, we are helping promising startups improve their
business models with support and feedback from successful investors”.
The five finalists who pitched were:
Grow
Plastics – @growplastics Enabling replacement of solid
plastic products with half as much bioplastic, providing greener and
cheaper solutions.
Meshfire
- @meshfire a social media empowerment
platform enabling teams to manage the firehose flow of social media for brands.
Discuss.IO
- @discuss_IO –simplifying consumer market research, using video conferencing
and crowdsourcing to connect businesses
to 11 million panelists
SocialGlimpz
- @socialglimpz -Visual engagement
platform enabling brands to gather consumer insights and create user generated content
Zealyst
- @Zealyst using data driving software and creative design to build long
lasting human relationships and improve engagement and innovation.
Participating
companies received awards of a month at Maker Space. BakerHostetler, Comcast for Business, AterWynne,
The Gateway group at Morgan Stanley and SeedInvest also provided sponsorship,
making the conference possible.
HubSeattle, SurfIncubator, Thinkspace and Bainbridge Graduate institute
provided invaluable in-kind support.
The next
Seattle Angel Conference will be held in November 2014. All Washington startups and interested
investors should inquire in June about participating in the next round of
educational events, trainings, and competition.
Deadline for applications will be September 1, 2014.
About the Seattle
Angel Conference
Each Seattle Angel
Conference culminates a 5 month program to educate and train accredited
investors as exemplary angel investors through workshops, hands-on practice and
mentoring. The Seattle Angel Conference
is an investor driven conference, connecting new angel investors with early
stage and seed businesses in the Greater
Seattle Area. The Seattle Angel Conference introduces qualified investors
to the potential, process and rewards of angel investing, and equally
importantly, works to encourage, accelerate and coach startup companies in the Seattle
areas and across the Northwest. For more information see http://www.seattleangelconference.com.
###
Contact:
John Sechrest
Founder
Seattle Angel
Conference
c: 541 250 0844
sechrest@seattleangelconference.com
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