IRVINE, Calif., August 18, 2010 An IPO for Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) yielding over 110 times return, the acquisition of Language Weaver Inc. by SDL for $42.5M, and an IPO for Trius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TSRX) have left a lot of Tech Coast Angels (TCA) members smiling and many early-stage, innovative companies excited about the future of entrepreneurship in Southern California. The three exits marked what has been a dynamic year for Americas largest angel investment network despite the economy, with a total of 14 new and follow-on deals by the end of second quarter totaling $19,364,501 of total investment (TCA and partners).
According to Richard Sudek, Chairman of Tech Coast Angels, “A lot of people with dynamic new ideas are looking at the economy with trepidation and we want them to know that entrepreneurship is alive and well. Great, game-changing ideas are always welcome and TCA is doing everything we can to make the process of creating a working company smooth and forward-moving. Green Dot, Language Weaver and Trius are showing the way.
Green Dot, a leading prepaid financial services company, Language Weaver, a pioneer in statistical machine translation, and Trius Therapeutics, a biotech firm developing an oral antibiotic for serious staph infections, demonstrate the wide variety of industries TCA invests in. Among the new investments in Q2 are OLFactor, a novel technology for insect repellant and trapping, HitFix, an entertainment news site featuring original content, and Vokle, which provides a next generation interactive platform for anyone wishing to reach their audience through live video dialogue. Sudek added, “We invite entrepreneurs to visit our website at https://tcaventuregroup.com where theyll find a description of what were looking for and the simple steps to get ideas in front of TCA. Were a receptive audience.
About Tech Coast Angels
Tech Coast Angels, https://tcaventuregroup.com, is the largest angel investor group in the United States. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California than any other investment group. TCA members invest in companies in a wide range of industries, including the life sciences, biotech, IT, services, retail, Internet, financial, software, media, consumer products and tech startups. TCA members give companies more than just capital; they also provide counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of potential investors, customers, strategic partners and management talent. TCA has more than 250 members, including its venture capital affiliates, in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Westlake/Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire. More information on investment with Tech Coast Angels can be found at https://tcaventuregroup.com, www.facebook.com/techcoastangels or twitter.com/techcoastangels.