December 12, 2017

New funding presentations:

• PrettyInstant, the world’s first managed marketplace for professional photography, saving clients time, money, and aggravation associated with hiring contract photographers; and
• com, which is developing a marketplace to improve the used textbook-buying experience.

Member due diligence report: Magurobotics.

November 14, 2017

New funding presentations:

• Labby, which has developed and sells a food and beverage testing device, to be used on-the-go for counterfeit detection, measurement and quality control in beer and wine production and sales; and
• Magurobotics, which has developed and sells a lure device potentially to revolutionize the sport-fishing and bait-fishing industries.

Members’ due diligence update:

• SNO Dietary Management.

October 10, 2017

New funding presentations:

• Simplified Nutrition Online Solutions, which develops and markets dietary management tracking software to eldercare institutions, the US military, correctional facilities, food distributors and manufacturers; and
• DJ Microlaminates, a materials science company seeking to market thick dry film laminate sheets and rolls for wafer fabrication processes, sensors, MEMS, microfluidics and medical and consumer devices.

Members delivered due diligence updates on:

• Pykus Therapeutics and
• Alps & Meters,

Plus a funding update on VetX.

September 12, 2017

New funding presentations:

• Alps & Meters, a luxury sportswear brand powered by a home try-on model of B2C service and distribution; and
• Crowd Comfort, a revenue generating company self-described as “Waze for buildings. We crowd-source building data (comfort, maintenance, safety, etc.) from occupants to help organizations operate more efficiently.”

Members’ due diligence reports: Pykus Therapeutics and Patheer.

August 19, 2017

Beacon enjoyed its 2017 Summer Garden Party on Saturday evening, August 19th.

July 11, 2017

New funding presentations:

• Thinking Chat employs artificial intelligence techniques to provide an improved chat agent to improve Web site lead capture by 30% or more using consistently effective dialogs 24-hhours per day.
• Spiro Technologies uses self-writing customer relationship management software to increase sales effectiveness. Spiro aims for a CRM so intelligent that it updates itself automatically as a salesman works, and provides users with alerts to drive sales.

Member due diligence reports:

• Pykus Therapeutics,
• Patheer, and
• VetX, and
• DoneGood.

Beacon’s upcoming get together will be its Summer Garden Party on the evening of Saturday, August 19th.

June 13, 2017

Funding Presenters:

• Nutrimedy, led by Edwin Rivera, which is developing a novel telehealth platform that transforms disease prevention and management by matching people with Registered Dietitians; and
• DoneGood, led by Cullen Schwarz, which offers a browser extension and mobile app to help consumers to find ethically-sourced environmentally-friendly goods produced by social enterprises.

Beacon members also presented and reviewed due diligence reports on:

• Pykus Therapeutics,
• Patheer,
• Frontlane,
• VetX, and
• NextShift Robotics.

The CEO of Siamab Therapeutics also presented an update.

May 9, 2017

Presenters were:

• Prapela, led by John Konsin, integrates breakthrough technology into products to help babies relax, breathe and sleep; and
• NextShift Robotics, led by Mary Ellen Sparrow, which is developing an e-commerce order fulfillment system whereby robots communicate with each other, and work more efficiently with human ‘pickers,’ enabling 3X to 8X efficiency improvements.

Beacon members also presented and review due diligence reports:

• Pykus Therapeutics,
• Unite GPS,
• Patheer,
• Frontlane &
• VetX.

April 11, 2017

Funding Presentations:

• FrontLane offers the Braking Bar,™ a patent pending, wireless, battery powered Adaptive Brake Light that can be added to any vehicle to help prevent the most frequent type of car accidents: rear-end collisions; and
• VetX, which offers a communications and analytics platform for veterinary clinics and pet owners, with an initial focus on extending clinics’ triage services after-hours and on weekends.

Members’ due diligence reports:

• Pykus Therapeutics,
• UniteGPS,
• QSM Diagnostics, and
• RacerX.

March 14th, 2017

Funding Presentations:

• Green Pinata, which sells subscriptions for high-quality, wooden toys to delight children, save parents money and reduce clutter; and
• Patheer, which offers an enterprise talent development platform for employers to retain and grow talent while empowering employees to drive their own careers.

Member due diligence reports and updates on recent presenters:

• Pykus Therapeutics,
• UniteGPS,
• MyBlend,
• QSM Diagnostics &
• RacerX.

February 14th, 2017

Funding Presentations:

• Pykus Therapeutics, which is developing a dissolvable intraocular device to make retinal surgery less painful and more successful; and
• UniteGPS, which develops software tools related to location. Their first product is being sold to school districts nationwide and is called Crosswalk.

Member due diligence reports and update: My Blend

Portfolio company CEO update: IQuartic.

January 10, 2017

Funding Presentations:

• My Blend, creating new ways for fashion and lifestyle brands to better engage with consumers by de-cluttering their e-mail inboxes, opening conduits to the social digital lives of women in the age 25-40 demographic; and
• The Wardrobe Essentialist, launching a two-sided menswear marketplace employing unique multi-brand data and machine learning to proffer personalized merchant recommendations, leading to more orders, lower return rates, and a superior return on Ad Spend.

We discussed our new investment in Ecare Vault, and heard diligence reports concerning QSM Diagnostics and RacerX.