VANE

VANE proudly presented at last week's Kansas City Animal Health Corridor Summit on "The Critical Role of the Angel Investor in the Investment Life Cycle." Several investors attended, including Julia Stephanus, Brian Keys Hands, Scott Brown, and Natalie Marks, DVM, CVJ, CCFP, Elite FFCP-V. The presentation garnered much interest from those seeking investment and those seeking to invest. 📲 Contact us if you're an interested member or founder!

Congratulations to portfolio company Jiminy's for once again being ranked among the fastest growing private companies in America in the 2024 Inc. 5000 list released earlier this week!!! Jiminy's grew by 398% over the last three years and is known for its insect protein based dog foods and treats. #insectprotein #angelinvesting #petfood #startup

WOW! Congratulations to Jiminy's for beating out 2500 other contenders and WINNING Dry Dog Food Product of the Year in the 2024 Pet Independent Innovation Awards!! #insects #petfood #animalhealth #angelinvesting

Congratulations to portfolio company, sylvester.ai on securing Metiquity Ventures as their lead investor on a $1M pre-seed investment round!!! Funds will be used to advance their AI technology which analyzes cats' facial expressions and comfort levels. This cutting edge tool will help veterinarians and pet owners detect feline pain and discomfort more accurately and quickly. #cats #painassessment #animalhealth #angelinvesting

Congratulations to portfolio company, One Health Group on receiving significant investment from Expanse Venture Partners!! https://lnkd.in/dR9JKc-T

Congratulations to portfolio company Jiminy's for receiving top marks in Dogster's 2024 Dog Food review!!! https://lnkd.in/g6WkAQqC

We have another reason to celebrate! 👏🏼 VANE is proud of our portfolio company, Jiminy's! Cast your vote 🖐🏼 for the best dog food delivery service at the link below!

A big 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼 to one of our portfolio companies, MI:RNA, and founder/CEO Eve Hanks! Veterinary Diagnostics Company MI:RNA Raises $4 million Series A Funding MI:RNA, the veterinary diagnostics company using cutting-edge technology and science to transform animal health diagnosis, has secured $4 million in Series A funding. Aiming to change the future of animal health treatments through improved, earlier diagnostics, the capital will be used to continue global growth plans and revolutionize animal health testing, improving diagnosis and wellness among the pet, agriculture, and equine sectors. MI:RNA’s vision is to change the disease diagnosis approach to improve animal outcomes. The merits of MI:RNA technology is scientifically reviewed and proven and has won numerous grants and awards. Funds have been raised from eight investors across three continents, including new investors, NovaQuest (Lead Investor), Kyoritsu Holdings (owner of a Japanese animal health company), VANE (Angel Syndicate), Animal Health Angels, and Companion Fund I, LLC (VC). Existing investors adding to the series A round are Gabriel, Equity Gap and Scottish Enterprise. Eve Hanks, CEO and founder, said: “Following on from our successful seed funding round from Gabriel Investments and Equity Gap, Series A is an important milestone in our global growth plans. We seek to improve health outcomes for animals through earlier disease diagnosis using revolutionary biomarker technology and artificial intelligence. The geographical spread of this investment round reflects the global opportunity for MI:RNA to deploy our platform for better pet outcomes.”     Brian Axe, Managing Director at NovaQuest Capital Management, said: “NovaQuest is extremely excited to lead the Series A with an exceptional syndicate of investors. Eve has assembled an excellent team and strong partners to help bring this disruptive and innovative diagnostic to both Production and Companion Animals. Identifying disease and understanding the stage of disease and progression through cellular mechanisms is the amazing potential miRNAs hold. We believe this technology has tremendous potential.”    Peter Glassman, DVM, Executive Committee Member & Co-founder at Veterinary Angel Network (VANE), said, “Our network of veterinarians, business owners, entrepreneurs, and industry experts are committed to supporting innovation in the animal health field. We invest in businesses that help pet owners, animals, or veterinary teams, and MI:RNA is an exciting investment opportunity at the cutting edge of science and technology. Our members were impressed by the MI:RNA team and the market application opportunity for vet practices globally to detect and stage diseases earlier.”  

Congratulations to portfolio company KaloCyte on this excellent feature article published in Science Magazine. For anyone interested in understanding the technology behind ErythroMer, their artificial red blood cell substitute, this publication contains an in depth look at the product along with beautiful illustrations and photos. Amazing technology with the potential to fulfill a highly unmet medical need for both humans and animals. #angelinvesting #bloodsubstitute #artificialblood https://lnkd.in/eJiswkmz

In the latest ACA Data Insights, John Harbison, Chairman Emeritus of TCA Venture Group and ACA Board Member, reports that early stage valuations have remained stubbornly high despite the current downcycle. He proposes numerous factors that may be keeping valuations high. At VANE, we are told by both applicant entrepreneurs and current portfolio companies, that raising money right now is harder than ever. IPO and M&A activity is down. Meanwhile, our members have become increasingly wary of "angel-unfriendly" valuations. So why haven't valuations become more reasonable? John Harbison suggests that valuations may be staying high due to more VC money chasing early stage deals, inexperienced and undisciplined entrepreneurs and investors, AI money, belief in the long-game, FOMO and others. The risks of over-valuation to entrepreneur and investor are significant and need to be seriously considered in every deal. https://lnkd.in/gf6W879P #angelinvesting #valuations #animalhealth #raisingcapital