 |
|
Ventures
this quarter: 10
|
Total
ventures: 10
|
Ventures
Helped: 2
|
March
2007
|
| Listings
this quarter (by Venture # and Industry): |
Venture
#: 0010, Wellness/Fitness
Venture #: 0011, Skincare
Venture #: 0012, Film Production
Venture #: 0019, Confectionary
Venture #: 0020, Toys/Gaming |
Venture
#: 0021, Mix Retail/Restaurant
Venture #: 0022, OOH
Venture #: 0023, IT
Venture #: 0024, Health/Wellness
Venture #: 0025, Consumer Products |
Anonymous
Listings
Venture
#: 0025
Industry: Consumer Products
CEO Bio: Inventor/Diver
Founded: 2005, Florida.
Product: The lightest and most diver-friendly scuba
propulsion device available.
Innovation Rating *: ii - Light, modular, convenient,
fast, long-lasting, and affordable.
Seeking: $700,000 equity investment for manufacturing.
Comments: Screener was introduced to venture last winter
and after a thorough review of their business plan, fell in
love with the product (despite never having dived a day in
his life). The concept was very James Bond; cool and stylish.
And that's just from the photos. Venture has extensively tested
prototypes with local law enforcement and, with your investment,
plans to launch homeland security market first, consumer second.
Industry Insights: Consumer
Products |
Venture
#: 0024
Industry: Health/Wellness (including Nutrition)
CEO Bio: World-gallivanting authority on healing and
nutrition. Top ranking graduate of certification school here
in U.S.
Founded: Summer 2005, New York.
Service: Wellness Lifestyle Center/Institute
Innovation Rating *: i - Business model scalable as
national brand of health/wellness/nutrition centers.
Seeking: $1 million in 2nd-round of private equity
or angel financing; administrative staff.
Comments: Irish-born, the founder has traveled to...
well, where hasn't she traveled to in her exploration of health
and healing? Published, affirmative, yet humble, the founder
has proven to be extremely adept at educating skeptics, including
screener. Screener spent nearly 6 hours reviewing and enhancing
business model with founder, who has successfully secured
1st-round and bridge financing for a new facility, staff,
and marketing.
Industry Insights: Fitness |
Venture
#: 0023
Industry: IT
CEO Bio: 13 years of entrepreneurial IT and management
experience; certified in all relevant areas.
Founded: Winter 2005, New York.
Service: Basic, mobile IT support services for electronic
retail partners and their customers; mid-market corporate
IT support.
Innovation Rating *: i - Low-cost, face-to-face, quick-response
tech support.
Seeking: $50,000 non-bank startup financing for up
to 5% equity.
Comments: Screener spent nearly 3 hours with founder
in round of interview sessions to evaluate and enhance business
model. To disregard his background would be to underappreciate
his unique perspective on his industry and vision for his
firm: founder is an African-American born from a Jewish mother
and he will be celebrating pass-over next week. Founder's
exceptional focus on customer service is the genuine innovation,
considering service offered surpasses common expectations
of the phrase "tech support".
Industry Insights: IT,
Customer
Service |
Venture
#: 0022
Industry: Out of Home
CEO Bio: Partner 1 comes from management ranks of big
finance; Partner 2 founded tech support firm for big finance
firms.
Founded: Summer 2006, New York.
Service: Creative for broadband; adsales; ownership
of proprietary, digital software and digital display media
Innovation Rating *: i - Combining different segments
of a media channel into an integrated firm focused on niche
markets.
Seeking: $250,000 start-up capital from any source;
candidates for board of advisors.
Comments: Tenacious is the best word screener can use
to describe Partner 1. Youthful and creative, in over 4 hours
of interviews he has described what he's built and how he's
identified unique opportunities that make his venture worth
a second look. With the proper financing and lobbying, venture
is poised to fill void in NYC OOH landscape, despite regulatory
threats to the industry.
Industry Insights: Media
(OOH) |
Venture
#: 0021
Industry: Mix Retail/Restaurant
CEO Bio: Venture is co-owned by holding company and
2 original founders of concept. Screener interviewed partner
in holding company. This partner has run his own successful
printing company/marketing agency for over 10 years, and franchised
several restaurant concepts during the last 5.
Founded: ~Spring 2004, New Jersey.
Service: Unique, beverage experience, integrating salon-like
services, with focus on healthy lifestyle segment.
Innovation Rating *: ii - Exploiting "experience-as-service"
concept around red-hot healthy-lifestyle trend.
Seeking: $400,000 in private equity to scale; franchisees.
Comments: Despite screener's long-standing philanthropic
relationship with holding-company partner, screener didn't
hesitate to test partner's mastery over the business, industry,
and goals, which partner passed with flying colors. Combining
unrelated businesses in a single location is not a new concept,
but the type of businesses this venture is combining to position
itself as a healthy-lifestyle brand is. Company seeks to franchise
nationwide.
Industry Insights: Retail/Restaurants |
Venture
#: 0020
Industry: Toys/Gaming
CEO Bio: Inventor/Psychotherapist/Social Worker/Producer/Writer
Founded: Summer 2006, New York.
Product: Board game
Innovation Rating *: i - Not electronic, yet
highly involving.
Seeking: $250,000 bridge financing for production.
Comments: Screener spent over 90 minutes with founder
- a practicing psychotherapist in NYC with a masters in creative
writing - in what started out as an awkward referral, but
blossomed into a stellar review of the concept, which can
only be summarized as an assured success. Extremely family
friendly, concept was invented as a solution to relationships
with poor communication. The prototype versions have literally
saved marriages and brought families closer. Playstation can't
make the same claim.
Industry Insights: Consumer
Goods (Toys) |
Venture
#: 0019
Industry: Confectionary
CEO Bio: Innovator for Yahoo!, Microsoft, the World
Bank with social conscious streak.
Founded: Winter 2005, New York.
Product: Premium chocolate-based candies
Innovation Rating *: ii - Ingredients and mission.
Seeking: $1.5 million of 2nd-round financing to scale
business. All types of financing welcome.
Comments: The screener can't believe it's been just
over 20 months since he first met one of the most energetic
founders he's ever met, business plan in hand, Harvard MBA
in back-pocket. What, he wondered, could he possibly help
this rockstar with? Shortly thereafter, Dealflow was trialed
to much success and, as your screener sits here writing his
endorsement - nibbling on this entrepreneur's beautifully
packaged and tasty product, which he purchased off the impulse-buy
shelf at one of the 300-or-so high-end retailers they're distributed
in nationwide - he can't help feeling like he's a little bit
more a part of the dynamic team she's single-handedly put
together to get her dream launched.
Industry Insights: Consumers
Enjoy Flavor |
Venture
#: 0010
Industry: Wellness/Fitness
CEO Bio: 2 Partners, both architects
Founded: March 2001, New York.
Service: Relaxation and wellness services for professionals
Innovation Rating *: ii - Facilities and service delivery.
Seeking: $7.6 million first stage
Comments: Screener spent 90 minutes with team and found
level of detail of their business plan and their familiarity
with details very reassuring. This venture has been reworking
their concept persistently for the last 5 years to make it
viable and profitable. Financials look unbelievable, but realistic.
Industry Insights: Fitness |
|
Venture
#: 0011
Industry: Skincare
CEO Bio: Design (Architecture B.A.)/Business (M.B.A.).
9 years combined Manufacturing, Retail, and Management Consulting
experience
Founded: 2004, New York.
Product: High-End Skincare Line
Innovation Rating *: i - Combination of Southeastern-Asian
botanicals and skincare treatments with modern science
Seeking: $4 million of any type to scale; large retail
partners
Comments: Screener spent over 2 hours in discussions
with CEO, sampled product (yes, they're safe for guys) and
reviewing extensive publicity received. Screener even met
publicist responsible (coincidentally at a conference) and
she's worth whatever they're paying her! Team consists of
4 very international go-getters with passion, opportunity,
strong academic credentials, and relevant industry experience.
Their exceptional collaboration has earned them national
distribution at over 100 well-known, high-end retailers
throughout North America, tripling their revenue since inception.
Industry Insights: Cosmetics,
Fashion
|
Venture
#: 0012
Industry: Film Production
CEO Bio: Producer, writer, director, actor
Founded: 2005 (venture is a Single Purpose Production
Entity), New York.
Product: Full-length feature film
Innovation Rating *: ii - Extremely low-cost,
high-quality production, with big name stars
Seeking: $975,000 in increments of $25,000 units
Comments: Screener spent 40 minutes with Founder/CEO,
sampling product and passion. And financials, too (which,
although extremely optimistic, are based on founder's previous
success with this model). Creative, logistics, financing have
all been meticulously and seamlessly arranged, requiring nothing
more than your signature on the dotted line. Like any film
product, there's high risk, high reward, but never forget,
"content is king". To paraphrase the founder: "Who
wouldn't like to walk on a red carpet, welcomed by glitterati,
and proclaim that they're the investor who made this major
feature film premiere possible?"
Industry Insights: Content,
Media |
|
|
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Insights
and Ideas from the Consumer
Strategies Report
- Logic
of Not Competing
- Inside
the World of "Free Consulting" and How Your Entrepreneurial
Dream May Suffer: A Practical Framework to Advising Entrepreneurs
- Cloudy
Job Prospects: Why Entrepreneurship and Not Leadership Is Critical
in Transitioning Economies
- An
Analysis of The United States Small Business Administration
Explanations
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debuting or currently existing in the respective industry. In
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