December 2024
Tech Council Ventures shows power of disciplined Networked Capital for their portfolio companies and their investors at a recent annual meeting.
By Sanjay Macwan
Technology Advisor and Limited Partner
Tech Council Ventures
Tech Council Ventures, a venture firm focused on early-stage rapid growth companies in the Mid-Atlantic region held its 2024 Annual Meeting at the prestigious Rutgers Club on December 3, 2024.
Jim Gunton (Managing Partner and Founder), Steve Socolof (Managing Partner), and Mark Kolb (Partner) hosted limited partners and several portfolio companies to review overall market perspective and detailed progress of the fund to continue to deliver on the mission of Networked Capital for superior returns.
Nearly 50 current limited partners, prospective partners, and several principals of the portfolio companies were in attendance to make it a highly interactive and substantive review of the fund and its future plans.
Partners noted a few macro trends including a) how the global venture market has remained in low gear with only 43% of 2018 funds having distributed any capital to the investors, b) prolonged fundraising cycle of ~2 years for most funds and c) VC inventory having grown to over 57,000 companies. However, partners also noted that these trends are very synergistic with the Tech Council Ventures disciplined investment style including quality time for diligence and being able to focus on superior value opportunities. They also underscored the focus on helping portfolio companies to ensure lean operations, maintaining an optimal runway, and building a company for best product or service differentiation to win the longer game.
In a bid to show transparency in a simplest way possible, the partners also reviewed likely outcomes for companies in baseball parlance of Triples/Homers, Doubles, and Singles. At least one portfolio company present posited they are more likely to be a Triple/Homer than Double as the partners had characterized it! It was a good bit of fun and a healthy tension between partners taking a conservative view and a portfolio company showing strong belief in what it’s doing and its prospects.
The fund remains focused on AI-enabled digital transformation, healthcare, and cleantech investment opportunities.
At the end, three portfolio companies were invited to present their progress to date and exciting journeys that lay ahead for them.
First up was ReGelTec Founder and CTO, Tony Lowman. ReGelTec is developing an injectable hydrogel for minimally invasive treatment of chronic low back pain from degenerative disc disease. Tony, a PhD in Chemical Engineering with a successful research and invention journey, very passionately and expertly dissected the lower back pain management approaches and pinpointed a solution gap, backed by substantive date, that the injectable hydrogel can effectively address. He provided specific details on upcoming clinical trials and how the company is poised to successfully navigate FDA approval and commercial launch.
Next up was Aaron Fessler, the Founder and CEO of TripWorks. This company believes it has the world’s most powerful booking software. Aaron’s venture was born and tested during his time developing one of the largest tourist attractions in Las Vegas, Nevada. Aaron and his team learned first-hand the pain points of consumers who wanted an intuitive, reliable, and modern experience in booking their vacations and adventures. He put his passion to work and built a solution to help tour operators and the travel leisure industry to deliver memorable experiences to consumers.
Finally, Peng Zhao, Co-Founder and COO of Princeton NuEnergy, methodically and expertly outlined his company’s innovative approach to lithium-ion battery recycling and battery materials production. As the world continues to pivot to electrical source of energies from home electronics to vehicles to large-scale industrial usage combined with geo-political challenges posed to mineral and component supply chains, Princeton Nuenergy has found a differentiated and scalable solution. They are rapidly scaling with their second production plant in South Carolina (after Texas) in the works.
This annual gathering of founders, innovators, and investors showed the true power of Networked Capital. We invite you to connect with us with any interest in our portfolio companies or our investment opportunities.
About Tech Council Ventures: www.TechCouncilVentures.com
Tech Council Ventures invests in the most promising early-stage, rapid-growth technology companies in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Fund typically initially invests $500,000 to $3M, with up to $4-5M to support the company’s growth. The general partners are active investors, typically (but not always) a Board Director and lead investor.
