SAC 19 Investment WINNER

Seattle Angel Conference Investment Winner 19

On April 12, Abterra Bio (formally Digital Proteomics) WON the $200,000 investment offered by Seattle Angel Conference (SAC) round 19.

Natalie Castellana, CEO of Abterra Bio, says of winning the SAC 19 investment:

"Abterra Bio is thrilled to have won the SAC XIX Angel Conference. We're eager to put the investment to work building better antibody therapeutics for cancer patients.  The SAC process, and the invaluable input from our due diligence team, has made us a stronger company.  They helped us identify areas of improvement across the board from finances to branding to fundraising strategy."

Mindy Barker, the lead of the due diligence team for Abterra Bio, says:

“I enjoyed serving as the lead of the Abterra Bio due diligence team.  Natalie was incredibly responsive and explained a very complex and unique technology and simplified the ability to conclude the company was investable.  Abterra is not only an attractive financial investment but will make a difference in health outcomes as better therapeutic antibodies are identified.”

Kate Fuller Ghaffari is the fund manager for SAC 19 and Abterra Bio. She says about her experience:

“Participating in the Seattle Angel Conference (SAC) has been instrumental in my experience as both an angel investor and emerging fund manager.

“It’s been wonderful to meet founders and investors from all across the continent and to be actively involved in a community that values mentorship, education and growth for all parties involved.  The support and resources that SAC provides to founders and investors are truly unparalleled.

“If you’re interested in getting involved, I highly recommend attending a SAC workshop which are open to the public and offered all throughout the year.”

The Seattle Angel Conference 19 final event started with an overview of startup numbers presented by the Queen of Data, Elaine Werfelli. SAC has worked hard to increase the number of women and people of color as both their investors and founders. We are pleased to announce that this round we managed to get 50% female investors. This is a higher percentage than any other angel group in the Northwest.

We are particularly grateful to Kate Fuller Ghaffari for stepping up to be the SAC 19 fund manager. It is a lot of work and she was always there supporting us all.

The SAC 19 process started in January of this year with over 80 companies applying for the round. On 4/6, the final 6 companies were chosen for the intensive 5 weeks of due diligence. This process was completed on 5/12 when each of the final 6 companies made a final presentation with some final questions asked by the due diligence team leaders.

This round of SAC has seen exceptionally good companies. All 6 of the finalists were considered investable by their due diligence teams at the end of the 5 weeks of analysis. Each of the steps was a difficult choice: going from the original companies, to the 12 quarterfinalists, to the 6 finalists, and to the 1 winner. It was an honor to be able to work with such excellent companies.

As usual with a SAC round, many of the investors are getting together to invest in “sidecar” funds for some of the other companies that participated in SAC 19.

The goal of the Seattle Angel Conference process is always that everyone is a winner. Even if a company doesn’t “win” the final investment, they might get outside investment. Every company that participates in a SAC round gets feedback on how they can do better and move their company forward.

For the investors, there are multiple wins of the Seattle Angel Conference. Of course, they have the opportunity to see a lot of quality, interesting companies. They also learn how to analyze a company to look for possible risks and opportunities. Last but not least, they have the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting new people -- both investors and founders!

Workshops for SAC 20 have already started on Thursdays at noon and Tuesday evenings. We would love to have you join us. The schedule is HERE:

https://www.meetup.com/Seattle-Angel/events/

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