CAV Angels, an investment syndicate composed of University of Virginia alumni, students and friends, recently closed three funding deals to push its lifetime investments close to $26 million.
The recent investments include MITO Material Solutions, an Indianapolis company that makes resin additives for all sorts of manufacturing, New York City’s Ask Alex, which offers AI-powered data and marketing software that automates workflows for brick-and-mortar operators; and Richmond augmented reality company ARtGlass, CAV Angels Managing Director and Co-Chair Rich Diemer told me.
Exact terms of the funding deals were not disclosed. All were group deals.
CAV Angels is a longtime investor in MITO Material Solutions, led by CEO and co-founder Haley Marie Keith. Its additives have the ability to make lighter and tougher composite parts and it is used in vehicle construction as well as in sporting goods like snowboards as well as fly-fishing rods from St. Croix Fly Rods. Diemer serves on the company’s board.
Ask Alex is led by co-founders Jordon Durst and Bryan Pollard, both UVa. alums. The company’s software offers advanced algorithms that craft highly personalized offers for customers. One of its biggest clients is Jersey Mike’s Subs, Diemer said.
Richmond’s ARtGlass offers wearable technology for tours of cultural and historic sites. Co-founder Greg Werkheiser is an alum of UVa.’s law school. Its tech and programs are used tourist sites in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, including Pompeii Archaeological Park in Italy and Monument Avenue in Richmond. Diemer said ARtGlass was going to use the funding as new working capital.
Diemer told me CAV Angels making $1.8 million in investments in the second quarter, up 17% from the prior year, and that it made $2.5 million in investments across the first two quarters, up 24% from the prior year.
All the companies the group invests in have a connection to UVa. Unlike other investment organizations, CAV Angels does not take a large management fee. The organization has no paid staff and only takes a small percentage for administrative and legal fees. Today it totals 160 accredited investors, according to Diemer.
