Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | July 4, 2022 25 "To have their investment is wonderful, but to build a network and a sense of community is really important," Ripps said. CI's Malloy serves on Owl's board of directors and Ripps said she tries to meet regularly with other members of Tidal River's founding team, which has expertise in marketing, debt financing, structuring investments and board management. "There's a real strategic value to the network," Ripps said. Pooling resources Malloy said she hopes to replicate Ripps' success for more startups. Tidal River has met with more than 50 companies since its launch. The founding team, Malloy said, reviews new applicants weekly and conducts 30-minute phone screens for startups that show promise. The entrepreneurs who make the cut are invited to pitch directly to Tidal River's angel investor network before undergoing a due- diligence process. Malloy said Tidal River looks for companies that already have a lead investor that their funding can supplement. One of the benefits of pooling resources as an angel network is lower investment thresholds, she said. "Companies typically don't want individual investors on their cap table at less than $25,000," Malloy explained. "But with a [angel investor] group, we can create special purpose vehicles that allow members to make investments as low as $5,000 alongside other angel investors." Angel investor networks also create a more interactive venture capital process, said Sloan Saunders, CEO of Intellihealth, a New Canaan-based startup that he co- founded with his wife, Katherine, and Dr. Louse Aronne to scale obesity treatment through a combination of tech-enabled behavioral tools and virtual clinical care. "With traditional venture capital investments, [a startup] is talking with one person who takes the lead and brings the [investment] opportunity back to a committee," Saunders said. "With an angel investor group [like Tidal River], you can speak to a larger group who can ask their individual questions." Malloy said participation in Tidal Rivers' pitch events — where invited startups share their business plans and funding needs — are held quarterly and have consistently drawn more than 60 women, even amidst virtual events during the height of the pandemic. Malloy is hopeful that, as Tidal River's network grows, the group will exceed $1 million in investments annually. She said the founding team is also exploring creating its own investment fund that could supplement or further enhance investments from its angel investors. Lamont said she is encouraged by the momentum she's seeing among women in venture capital. While still a small percentage, she said, the number of female venture capitalists has been growing over the past several years. It's a trend she thinks is important as startups in sectors like consumer goods, health care and education technology continue to grow both nationally and in Connecticut. "When it comes to a family's healthcare or consumer decisions, most often those decisions are made by women," Lamont said. "So they can bring a lot of insight and perspective [into companies in those sectors]." Annie Lamont stands with Alison Malloy, director of investments with Connecticut Innovations, the state's quasi-public venture arm. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Rebuilding State Pier, reimagining our future A New Day for New London To learn more visit revolution-wind.com • Eastern is the #1 Public Regional University in New England (2020, 2021, 2022) U. S. News & World Report • Eastern graduates have the ethics, problem- solving and communication skills, and ability to work in teams that you need in your organization. • 40 majors — including Accounting, Data Science, Economics, Business Information Systems, Finance, Health Sciences and more. Eastern Grads . . . www.easternct.edu Job Ready! HBJ Ad 22.indd 1 HBJ Ad 22.indd 1 6/22/22 10:33 AM 6/22/22 10:33 AM

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