In April 2009, the AoA launched a $4.4 million Seed Fund that co-invests alongside AoA members.  The Seed Fund’s investors consist of 27 AoA members. 

The Seed Fund’s objectives are:

• To provide more early-stage investment capital for Northwest entrepreneurs
• To allow Fund investors to diversify their portfolio of high-growth start-ups
• To enable AoA angels to put more capital into startup companies
• To encourage more angel involvement in the AoA
• To achieve returns for Seed Fund investors usually associated with early-stage seed investments in a diversified portfolio of high-growth start-up companies

Investment decisions are made by a volunteer, three-person Investment Committee consisting of Peter van Oppen, Gaylord Kellogg and Tim Porter.  Operations of the Seed Fund are managed by the Executive Director, Emer Dooley, in conjunction with the Investment Committee. 

The investment philosophy of the Seed Fund is to leverage the AoA screening and selection process. The Fund will consider investing side-by-side with AoA members on transactions meeting the Fund’s investment criteria.  Every investment is unique, so please contact a member of the Seed Fund team to discuss the investment opportunity, however the Fund may invest in any initial or follow-on round that meets the following investment guidelines:

• Companies become eligible for a matching investment by the Seed Fund when a company’s investment round under consideration is approved by the AoA Screening Committee and presents to the membership
• An AoA member has agreed to become the Lead Angel to lead the investment on behalf of the Company and has invested or committed to invest in the prospective company
• Two or more AoA members invest in a company for at least $100,000 in aggregate (excluding in-kind contributions)
• The Lead Angel has completed the AoA due diligence checklist https://angelsoft.net/group/aoa/documents and met with the Investment Committee to discuss the due diligence process and findings 
• Terms of the investment are consistent with the standard AoA Term Sheet https://angelsoft.net/group/aoa/documents
• The Seed Fund invests pari passu with the AoA members (dollars are matched on exact same terms)
• Maximum aggregate investment in any single company is 10% of the Seed Fund, with a maximum individual investment size of $250,000
• The Seed Fund receives basic information rights in the portfolio company to include, at minimum, annual financial statements delivered no later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year

If a prospective investment meets the above guidelines, the default is for the Seed Fund to invest.  However, the Investment Committee reserves the right not to invest in any transaction, such as those  that do not meet the AoA’s standard level of due diligence, do not meet the AoA’s standard level of involvement of the Lead Angel or are inconsistent with the AoA’s standard term sheet.  The Investment Committee will also consider each investment’s impact on Fund diversification.

The Seed Fund encourages any AoA members interested in bringing an investment for matching to communicate with the Seed Fund team as early in the process as possible.  The Seed Fund aims to be a resource to AoA investors considering a new deal and can often be helpful in providing feedback or identifying issues.  Before meeting with the Investment Committee, the Lead Angel should provide the term sheet, the due diligence checklist referenced above, and any other supporting materials they wish to provide, as well as provide a list of investing AoA members and amounts to be matched.  After making an investment decision, the Seed Fund will not match additional commitments subsequently received by the company for that round.

Note that the management of the Seed Fund is an evolving process and new situations have arose and will arise that were not completely anticipated or addressed with the guidelines above.  In these cases, the Seed Fund will work collaboratively with the AoA investors to reach the appropriate conclusion.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Seed Fund team with any questions.    

Seed Fund Team

Emer Dooley, Executive Director AoA Seed Fund (non-voting); emer@allianceofangels.com; 206.369.7248

Emer Dooley is a faculty member at the University of Washington. She specializes in technology strategy, entrepreneurship and venture capital and teaches in both the Business School and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. She was awarded the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997. Emer has a B.Sc .and M.Eng. from the University of Limerick in Ireland, and an MBA and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Prior to joining the university, Emer worked as a senior design engineer with Digital Equipment Corporation in Ireland and in the US, and as marketing manager with Mosaix, a Seattle computer-telephony start up.

Peter van Oppen

Peter H. van Oppen is currently a partner at Trilogy Partnership. From 1994 to 2006, Mr. van Oppen served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board for Advanced Digital Information Corporation (ADIC), transitioning the company to an independent, publicly traded company with annual revenue exceeding $450 million. ADIC was acquired in August 2006 by Quantum Corp. Prior to ADIC, Mr. van Oppen served in various positions including Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Interpoint Corporation, from 1985 to 1996. Mr. van Oppen also previously served as a managing consultant at Price Waterhouse LLP and Bain & Company. Mr. van Oppen has served as a director of multiple other public companies including Interpoint Corporation, Western Wireless Corporation, Spacelabs Medical, Receptech Corp. and Key Technology. Mr. van Oppen holds a B.A. in political science from Whitman College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Tim Porter

Tim is a partner at Madrona Venture Group where he serves on the boards of Appature, Corensic, Schemalogic and Z2Live, and is a board observer for Apptio, ExtraHop Networks, Impinj, Skytap, Singlepoint, and Smartsheet. Prior to joining Madrona in 2006, Tim was a key member of Microsoft’s Corporate Development group, where he shared responsibilities for sourcing, structuring, and negotiating Microsoft’s acquisitions, strategic investments and joint ventures.  While at Microsoft, Tim focused on enterprise software, security, and mobile and closed 14 transactions for over $850 million. Notable transactions included Microsoft’s acquisitions of Softricity, FrontBridge Technologies, ProClarity, Whale Communications, and Giant Company Software. Earlier in his career, Tim worked nearly five years for broadband satellite start-up Teledesic, spending his last year there also working for Craig McCaw’s Eagle River Investments.

Gaylord Kellogg

Gaylord M. Kellogg, founder of Saltspring Ventures LLC, is an angel investor specializing in early stage companies in the Northwest.  Investments are focused on internet technologies, software, and clean tech.  His portfolio has included: Amazon, AvenueA/Aquantive, Atom Films, Daptiv, Escapia, Halosource, MarketRange, Modumetal, Neah Power Systems, Pet Holdings, Play Network, Qsent, ScaleOut Software, Tegic, Terabeam, and VacationSpot.  He co-founded Gear.com, an online surplus sporting goods retailer acquired by Overstock.  Prior to Gear.com, Gaylord was Business Development Director at The MountainZone, an online publication for extreme sports enthusiasts.  He serves on the board of Northwest Horticulture, the country’s largest supplier of green roof plant materials.  He also serves on the Executive Committee and the Screening Committee for The Alliance of Angels (AoA), mentoring entrepreneurs in early stage businesses as they seek capital and resources.  Gaylord grew up in Seattle, earned a Bachelor’s degree in geology at the University of Pennsylvania (1984), and an MBA from the University of Washington (1992).