In its first six months, members of the Brown Angel Group (BAG) collectively invested more than $500,000 in startups founded by Brown University alumni, according to a recent update from the group.
BAG has also ballooned to 250 members in that time period, screened 50 companies and listened to 19 of those companies actually pitch the organization.
“I’ve always found the Brown alumni community to be both creative and supportive,” Mathew Farkash, Brown class of 2003 and a founding organizer of BAG, told Rhode Island Inno. “It’s no surprise that we’ve been able to quickly attract Brown entrepreneurs as well as Brown alumni that are excited to help founders via their connections, expertise and capital. We believe that this community can give Brown entrepreneurs a meaningful advantage along the difficult journey of building a sustainable business.”
BAG launched last July when Farkash and Rajiv Kumar, co-founder of a startup called ShapeUp that Virgin Pulse eventually acquired, came together to give back to the Brown entrepreneurship community. The two realized they could have never built their own startups had it not been for help from other Brown alumni.
Startup founders pitching BAG must have some kind of connection to Brown, but Kumar previously said the group doesn’t want to be too rigid with its guidelines and is more than happy to accept pitches from a graduate student or professor.
Kumar also said the group would target pre-seed investments between $100,000 and $500,000.
Since its launch, BAG has become a diverse organization, according to the update. Members include alumni from Brown classes in the 1960s to recent grads, and of the 250 current members, 25 percent are women.
Investors in BAG are from New York, California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and international communities.
BAG also includes investors from more than 25 venture capital firms, including FirstMark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, TCV, Andreessen Horowitz, Horizons Ventures and Bullpen Capital.
Founder of the 50 companies screened range from 1984 graduates to the class of 2019, and 21 percent of the founders who have pitched BAG are women. The companies represent a wide variety of business models, including SaaS, marketplaces, medical devices, CPG, tech-enabled hardware and tech-enabled entertainment, as well as a range of sectors including cybersecurity, fintech, healthtech, manufacturing tech, health and wellness and food.
“Moving forward, we plan to grow the community and extend the ways we can positively impact all stakeholders,” said Farkash.
Brown founders and alumni interested in joining the Brown Angel Group can learn more at www.BrownAngelGroup.org.
