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March 16, 2023
FOLX Health Looks to Expand
By Dan Pender
CEO Liana Douillet Guzmán on raising capital in frothy times versus during a return-to-normal environment.
March 16, 2023
Luck, Likeability and Respect Go A Long Way
Alto’s Eric Satz discusses how his company is democratizing access to alternative assets and attracting investors along the way.
March 3, 2023
The Consequences Of A Shifting Market
Co-Founder and CEO of Sensorium Therapeutics Dick Simon on the company's mission and its search for the right investors.
February 24, 2023
Hirewell's Matt Massucci Is Ready For The Next Challenge
Hirewell CEO Matt Massucci on the company's post-capital-raise growth, acquisitions, and how these changes are affecting the company.
February 10, 2023
Avoid Just-In-Time Raises By Planning Ahead
IRA record keeping and technology solutions provider IRALOGIX has raised an $11 million expansion of its Series B in 2021 and $22 million Series C in 2022. Founding Partner Joe Hipsky spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about those raises and some things, looking back, he might do differently.
February 10, 2023
Halo Investing Brings Structured Notes to the Masses
Halo’s vision and execution has propelled it to one of the top FinTechs in the U.S. That success also allowed it to easily raise capital to further its long-term goal of making structured notes accessible for just one dollar. Jason Barsema, co-founder and president, joined the Deamlamers Podcast to talk about how they built the company to where it is today and what we can expect in the future.
February 10, 2023
In Fundraising, Reputation Matters
Lucid Technologies Founder and CEO Andrew Ashur on launching the business and how his fundraising process has evolved along the way.
February 3, 2023
Tom Goodmanson On Calabrio's Two Transactions
Tom Goodmanson, former CEO of Calabrio, spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about the KKR transaction and the Thoma Bravo transaction that would follow, what each was like, how he prepared and what the future holds for the business.
February 3, 2023
Functional Fluidics Looks To Expand Market For Unique Platform
Functional Fluidics CEO Patrick Hines spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about his company, its progress and fundraising.
January 20, 2023
STAQ Pharma Expands Operations to Columbus
STAQ Pharma recently raised an estimated $45 Million of Series C venture funding to build a $70 million facility on the West side of Columbus, which will add 300 jobs to the area. Its 503B Outsourcing Facility will produce compounded medications under the Current Good Manufacturing Process (cGMP) quality system, a Federal Drug Administration (FDA) standard. CEO Joe Bagan sat down with Smart Business Network to discuss the capital raises and the new, much larger facility being built in Columbus.
January 20, 2023
Debbie Gordon On Maximizing Her Time During Fundraising
Cloud Range is a cyber security company helping large organizations proactively prepare for cyberattacks. In an environment in which cybersecurity attacks are increasing significantly, CEO Debbie
January 13, 2023
Lance Hill On How To Think About Capital Raises
Within3 Founder and CEO Lance Hill on what to consider when raising capital.
January 13, 2023
With SmartWitness, Business Liability Tool Turns Into $200M Return For Nick Merchef
Nick Mirchef and his son-in-law, Chris Pflanz, went through the trails and tribulations of early-stage capital raises with their company SmartWitness and found a big payday at the end of it all. Today, they’re offering others advice using their experience as a guide.
January 6, 2023
Airspace Link Creates Drone Navigation Highway
In four short years, Detroit startup Airspace Link went from a couple founders and a few employees to recently raising $23 million in a Series B to aid its global expansion. It started with a $100,000 convertible note, a $3 million pre-seed, a $10 million Series A and now the global expansion raise. Michael Healander, co-founder, president and CEO, is a drone pilot enthusiast who envisions the positive impact drones could provide to economies and quality of life. His company is creating a roadmap in the sky for drones of all types and sizes.
December 16, 2022
What To Consider When Raising Debt
Cequel III Vice President Mike Pizzella, Jr., former CEO of StayLock Storage on current trends in financing business growth — including debt-based financing — and how to best leverage financial tools for different stages of your business lifecycle.
December 16, 2022
Boon Logic Offers Silicon Valley Opportunity in Minnesota
Boon Logic, developer of machine-learning based anomaly detection algorithm, is completing its second funding round over the last four years with a nearly $40 million pre-money valuation to support the commercialization of two disruptive services. CEO Grant Goris sat down with the Smart Business Podcast team to discuss how is company was born, how it has grown, and what he’s learned about raising capital along the way.
November 4, 2022
Pitch perfect: The need for newbie entrepreneurs to improve their talk track
Project Olympus' Kit Needham on the areas where fist-time entrepreneurs stumble when seeking their earliest funding rounds.
November 4, 2022
Expert Social Influencers Change the Marketing Landscape
Working directly with brands and retailers, The Desire Company matches them with the right experts to trial, test and review products, producing video reviews for use at the point of sale and across digital marketing channels. These partnerships are proving to drive an increase in conversions, time on site and an increase in marketing effectiveness, resulting in a six times revenue increase for the company in the past 12 months. As a result, brands are taking notice and want in on this new approach.
November 4, 2022
Chain.io Investing in Supply Chain Platform Partnerships
As supply chain issues continue to wreak havoc for businesses both large and small, Chain.io Founder and CEO Brian Glick hopes to alleviate the problems with its cloud-based integration platform, which lets all the different entities in the chain share data between all their systems.
October 28, 2022
Dry Powder vs Rising Interest Rates
Petra Capital Partners' David Fitzgerald on how raising capital and investment decisions are being affected by conditions in the market.
October 28, 2022
The Unexpected Outcomes of Royal Capital Group’s Community Development
Royal Capital Group Founder and CEO Kevin Newell discovered that when living conditions improve, so do the mental and physical health of those living in the neighborhoods he’s developed. This approach opened a new capital stream through UnitedHealthcare, which is now the largest private investor, providing $5.4 million in equity funding for one of his latest endeavors.
October 14, 2022
Michael Sirpilla On Society Brands’ $204M Raise
Society Brands CEO Michael Sirpilla spoke on Dealmaker TV's DealTalk program about the company’s $204M raise and its growth since its launch in 2020.
October 14, 2022
Immunophotonics Makes Strides in Cancer Research
Lu Alleruzzo, a bioengineer with a MBA, had an opportunity early in his career to understand innovation and immediately apply it to society for the benefit of all. That opportunity fueled him and his biotech company, Immunophotonics, to pioneer a field of cancer care called Interventional Immuno Oncology.
October 7, 2022
Checkpoint Surgical Focused on Growth
Checkpoint Surgical, Inc., a privately held U.S.-based medical device company with proprietary neurostimulation technology for nerve protection and repair, raised $16 million of growth capital in August of 2021. One year later, with those investments in place, the company is shifting into growth mode, a move that comes with substantial changes. Executive Advisor Len Cosentino talks about the raise, his process for vetting investors and how Checkpoint is setting itself up for profitability.
October 7, 2022
From funder to fundraiser
MOBILion's Dr. Melissa Sherman on growing the company and how she's adapted to the fundraising process.
October 7, 2022
Funding options for health care companies
Lawrence, Evans & Co.'s Neil Johnson spoke on funding options for health care companies.
September 15, 2022
ESG’s increasing impact on investment decisions
Black Brain Trust's Angel St. Jean on the rise of ESG, her company’s growth, and the challenges of fundraising.
September 9, 2022
What to consider when considering minority investments
Broadview Group Holdings' Clay Hunter, LoanNEX's Eloise Schmitz, Lewis & Clark AgriFood's Tim Hassler, PNC's Tim Brady and BDO USA's Meg Kellogg on what minority control sales look like, and how planning in advance can lead to multiple bites at the apple.
September 2, 2022
Multiple means of raising capital
Oncocyte's Ron Andrews on the company's use of its at-the-market program, how it works, when it's best deployed, and what the raise from it has enabled to the company to do.
August 5, 2022
Life Remodeled CEO Chris Lambert On The Heart Of Fundraising
Life Remodeled CEO Chris Lambert on the organization's mission and accomplishments, as well as his approach to fundraising.
July 6, 2022
Identifying the right capital partners
Tiesta Tea Company's Dan Klein on what he looks for in investors beyond capital as well as the company's plans for growth.
July 6, 2022
Landing the first investors
SureImpact's Sheri Chaney Jones on launching SureImpact and her experience landing investors.
June 29, 2022
Risk management in M&A
Aclaimant Co-Founder and Board Member Michael Schultz on dealing with risk in M&A transactions, and how his company is applying its recent $15 million raise.
June 22, 2022
Lessons learned from raising different types of capital
Stratifyd's Derek Wang on building Stratifyd, raising capital and growing his investor network.
June 22, 2022
Build a good business and investors will find you
HYCU's Simon Taylor, Mintz's Kurt Steinkrauss, Health Express Urgent Care's Chris Whelan and First Republic Investment Management's Julie Rousseau on what you need to know about the personal and corporate side of readying your company for whatever tomorrow brings.
June 16, 2022
How Paperless Parts Overcame Early Stumbles To Find Success
Paperless Parts recently raised $30 million of Series B venture funding led by OpenView Venture Capital. Jason Ray, co-founder and CEO of Paperless says he had some entrepreneurial stumbles along his path to building Paperless into what it's become today.
June 10, 2022
Edovo Divests to Improve Mission Focus
Edovo CEO Brian Hill on his venture, its recent acquisition and raising capital.
June 2, 2022
To raise funds, show investors the math
PhotoniCare's Ryan Shelton on raising funds and the company's future.
May 20, 2022
Blended Finance Approach Leads to Quality Health Care
Ngu Morcho, president and CEO of KeraLink International, has more than 20 years of experience in early-stage technology development working in Africa and across India and Southeast Asia. Today, Morcho’s mission is to end corneal blindness globally as the head of operations at KeraLink. To fund this mission, KeraLink uses a blended finance model, a combination of grants, concessional equity and debt that is used together to develop a sustainable business model.
May 19, 2022
Fundraising isn't an event. It's a process.
Kytopen CEO and co-founder Paulo Garcia talks about his company, it's progress and how he balances fundraising with advancing the business.
May 19, 2022
When to incorporate investor feedback and when to ignore it
Co-Pilot Co-founder and CEO Matt Spettel on launching the company, what he learned through fundraising, and what it's like going through a rebrand when investors are involved.
May 6, 2022
How Catch Co. Caught On With Investors
Catch CEO Ross Gordon on how the company caught on with investors, and where they go after the company raised a $38 million Series B.
April 28, 2022
Capital alignment and speaking investors' languages
Amicus.io CEO and Co-Founder Cor Hoekstra, talks prior to the company's acquisition by TIFIN about attracting investors, differentiation, and what he sees as the future for the company.
April 28, 2022
How NOBULL builds a community of fans and attracts growth capital
NOBULL Co-Founder and CEO Marcus Wilson on the myriad lessons learned on his — and the company’s — whirlwind journey, including what investors bring to the table beyond funding and why building an engaged community of loyal customers has been the real key to success.
April 22, 2022
Ohio draws increasing Silicon Valley attention with OVO Fund III raise
The recently launched Palo Alto-based OVO Fund III has closed after reaching its goal of $50 million. And it achieved that mark with help from an Ohio syndicate of investors whose combined $8 million for OVO Fund III makes them one of the more substantial investors in the Silicon Valley-based OVO Fund.
April 14, 2022
Tim Wallace On Making Raising Capital Part of The Job
Tim Wallace talks about his vast experience founding companies and growing them into wildly successful businesses.
April 8, 2022
Raising Capital and Growing Businesses in the Health Care Industry
Within3's Lance Hill, along with Huntington Bank's Jamie Lynch and John Langenderfer, University Hospitals Health System's Eric Beck, and ValueHealth's John Palumbo explore how health care entrepreneurs fuel growth.
April 1, 2022
Capital is not a differentiator
Physna's Paul Powers, Blacksmith Applications' Terry Ziegler and Fifth Third's Jeremy Gutierrez and Joshua Sosland talk about building strong capital stacks to finance growth.
March 23, 2022
What entrepreneurs can learn from investor feedback patterns
WeSpire Founder and CEO Susan Hunt Stevens talks about her company and experience raising capital.
March 23, 2022
Gerri Henwood on public vs private funding
Serial entrepreneur Gerri Henwood talks about her entrepreneurial experience as well as the differences — the pros and cons — of public and private funding.
March 11, 2022
Even for the best entrepreneurs, raising capital is always harder than it looks
Bloomscape Founder and CEO Justin Mast spoke with Dickinson Wright's Zan Nicolli about his venture and the process of raising capital from investors.
February 11, 2022
When pitching nascent opportunities, explain it so grandma would understand
Play One Up CEO Brandon Pitts talks about the growing esports industry, building Play One Up and how he pitches investors who might not be familiar with the opportunity.
January 7, 2022
Plan ahead to find deal success
Tri Star Energy's Wayne Acklen, Baker Donelson's Tonya Mitchem Grindon, Quorum Health's Alfred Lumsdaine and PNC Bank's Michael Johnson offer tips on financing your business to supercharge growth and how planning ahead can prepare buyers and sellers for just about any contingency.
December 16, 2021
Citymark Capital founder Daniel Walsh on launching the company
Daniel Walsh talks about launching Citymark Capital, building funds, creating value and the special place Austin holds in the company’s plans.
December 2, 2021
How Chris Molaro launched NeuroFlow
NeuroFlow co-founder Chris Molaro on changing the way mental health care is delivered, his most recent M&A deal, and the company’s future.
November 5, 2021
Addressing the structural barriers facing minority owned businesses
Della Clark, CEO of The Enterprise Center, talks about ways to create better access to capital for minority entrepreneurs and her newest project, an SBIC fund aimed at mature minority owned companies.
July 9, 2021
The benefits of crowdfunding
Jonathan Cohen, founder, CEO and president, 20/20 GeneSystems, shares best practices for effective crowdfunding as well as how to prepare pitches for different investor audiences.
June 18, 2021
Jonathan Herrick pursues growth at Benchmark
Jonathan Herrick, a St. Louis entrepreneur who’s now CEO of Benchmark, talks about its most recent acquisition of Contacts+, as well as what’s in store for 2021.
May 28, 2021
Paths to public: Mina Sooch on reverse merger vs IPO
Mina Sooch explains how the reverse merger process she took taking Ocuphire Pharma Inc. public compares to her prior IPO experiences.
May 21, 2021
Louis Foreman on how IP strategy creates value
Enventys Partners CEO Louis Foreman CEO on where startups struggle, and how they find success.
January 22, 2021
Carolyn Cassin on the good news/bad news of venture funding for women
Carolyn Cassin, BELLE Michigan Impact Fund founder and general partner talks about the challenges women entrepreneurs face and how her fund is designed to help.
January 22, 2021
Raise capital, gain market validation with crowdfunding, says Louis Foreman
Louis Foreman, CEO, Enventys Partners talks about product innovation, raising capital, recent patent activity trends and the commonalities among his 15 clients who appeared on the TV show Shark Tank.
December 17, 2020
Greg Skoda: Raising Capital to Survive in Uncertain Times
Greg Skoda, speaking at the Smart Business Dealmakers Conference in September, offered his take on companies’ pandemic capital situation, and how business owners and executives have responded.
June 12, 2020
Chromocare’s Hugh Cathey: It’s time for careful, creative thinking
It's a challenging business environment right now, which calls for care and out-of-the-box thinking. Hugh Cathey discusses what he’s seeing in today’s market through the lens of both business owner and investor.
May 21, 2020
UBS’ Jerry Johnson sees deals and capital flowing, although with some renegotiation
UBS Managing Director and Market Head Jerry Johnson shares his view of the market and what's happening with capital flow in the M&A space.
April 17, 2020
Daniel J. Hayes talks tempering expectations in life sciences capital raises
Tips from CLA's Dan Hayes on how life sciences founders can navigate some of the critical business steps that help them take their science to market.
March 5, 2020
PeopleShare co-founder Ryan Clark on acquisitions, lessons learned
When PeopleShare, through organic growth, hit a comfortable revenue number, CEO Ryan Clark began to wonder how big the staffing firm could get. That’s when acquisition, and a private equity recapitalization, became real and viable options.
February 6, 2020
Richard Weaver on choosing the right recapitalization partner
AB Bernstein's Richard L.N. Weaver offers his perspective on what business owners should consider when pursuing recapitalization, including the importance of defining goals and choosing the right private equity partner.
January 22, 2020
Dave Enright breaks down the capital stack
Dave Enright has a lot of experience in the "wild, wild west" of buying — deals that are below $5 million EBIDTA. The senior vice president and commercial banker at S&T Bank digs into the financing behind buying companies in the lower middle market.
January 21, 2020
Martin Renkis: Be a 10-year thinker when raising funds
Founder Martin Renkis talks about raising capital for Smartvue and how long-term thinking ultimately landed put him in the best position to succeed — culminating in a sale to Johnson Controls in 2018.
January 17, 2020
Michael Mufson on determining value, finding investors in recapitalization
Recaps, a liquidity play, represent an estimated 75 percent of the private equity transactions taking place in the market today. Michael Mufson offers a closer look at recapitalization so owners can better understand the process.
January 9, 2020
Autobooks’ Steve Robert: Give Investors A Reason To Believe In Your Business
You can’t afford to be short-sighted, getting quick dollars and board members without thinking a few steps ahead, says Autobooks’ Steve Robert.
January 9, 2020
Capital-raising tips any business can learn from
Coolfire Solutions CEO Don Sharp talks about raising capital, nurturing investor relationships and what should be understood when faced with the decision of whether, or whether not, to take on outside capital.
December 12, 2019
Pre Brands’ Jason Pinter: Build An Investment Thesis That Works For You
Feedback is important as you’re building a business. But you’ve got to do what you think is best, says Pre Brands’ Jason Pinter.
December 3, 2019
How Maxine Clark Financed Build-A-Bear
Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark talks about how she raised the capital — both financial and intellectual — to grow the retail chain and eventually take it public.
October 31, 2019
U of M’s David Brophy: Michigan Needs To Retain More Talent, Secure More Investment Dollars
The Michigan Private Equity Conference is part of an effort to spur private equity investment and activity in the state.
October 31, 2019
Dr. Ellen Stang unlocks growth with a little PE help
Progeny Health, founded by Dr. Ellen Stang, has been profitable and debt-free since the beginning. But when her business hit a wall about eight years in, some friendly advice helped her unlock the company's growth.
October 24, 2019
Denise Devine’s tips and traps for capital-raising entrepreneurs
RTM Vital Signs' co-founder Denise Devine explores the stages of capital raising and what entrepreneurs should look for, and look out for, at each.
October 10, 2019
Fyllo’s Chad Bronstein: Pitch Investors With Confidence, Not Arrogance
Chad Bronstein shares tips on how he engaged investors and helped Fyllo raise $18 million in seed funding.
September 20, 2019
Hugh Cathey: Smart Fundraising Requires Monitoring Market
Serial entrepreneur Hugh Cathey, now on his ninth startup with genetic testing company ChromoCare, shares his best practices for raising capital.
September 13, 2019
VillageMD’s Tim Barry: Investors Want To Give You Money
The co-founder and CEO of the healthcare management services company talks about his strategy when raising capital and the importance of establishing an ongoing dialogue with potential investors.
September 13, 2019
John McInerney On Finding The Right Deal Partners
M&A veteran John McInerney talks about his experience selling Keystone Printed Specialties and what it taught him about the value of good advisors.
September 12, 2019
Three keys to an effective recapitalization strategy
Greenwich Capital Group's Andrew Dickow shares what you need to consider when building an effective recapitalization strategy.
August 30, 2019
MBF Therapeutics’ Tom Tillett On Raising Capital And Keeping Control
The animal health biotech company's founder and CEO talks about raising capital to fuel your organization’s growth and how to plan to pay back your investors. Here are some of the lessons he shared.
August 30, 2019
Debt Advisor Tom Lesch On Financing Riskier Deals
Livingstone Partners' Tom Lesch talks about his approach helping companies get the capital they need, as well as a recent trend that has seen borrowers become less willing to take risks.
August 28, 2019
How Krystal Biotech went from founding to IPO in 18 months
CEO Krish Krishnan is an experienced biotech executive. But even he didn’t expect to go from self-funding Krystal Biotech to IPO in 18 months.
August 22, 2019
How To Optimize Capital To Support Growth
Veteran deal adviser Joseph Valentic walks through the process of determining your capital needs and how to find the best source to fund your growth.
August 8, 2019
GovQA's Growth Equity Deal: It's About Insight, Not Money
John Dilenschneider didn’t need money. He wanted a partner that could help GovQA capitalize on its leadership position in the growing market of enterprise workflow software.
June 28, 2019
Raising Capital: Three Things Every Investor Wants To Know
When you’re an investor being asked to provide millions of dollars in capital to a growing business, you want a lot of details about how that money will be used.“I would bet 90 percent of the
June 27, 2019
Be Sure You Can Manage Your Capital Before You Take It
Competition is strong among financial institutions engaged in M&A activity, which creates risk for companies looking to make a deal, says says Richard C. Hampson, state president and head of commercial banking at Citizens Bank, Michigan.
June 18, 2019
Keys to developing a strong capital structure
Candlewood Partners founder Glenn Pollack discusses restructuring transactions, building strong capital structures and the risk of selling to private equity.
June 5, 2019
Quantum Health’s Kara Trott on raising capital without losing control
How the CEO of the health care company brought on three rounds of investors, while keeping control of the business she founded.
May 28, 2019
How to set up the right capital structure for each acquisition
Andrew Wiechkoske has never had the unfortunate experience of having a deal fall apart at or near the finish line, even though he’s worked at PNC since 2008 and completed more than $1 billion
May 23, 2019
Phil Alexander: Give Potential Investors A Reason To Believe
The founder of ConceptDrop and Nexus A.I. talks about the role personality can play in making better connections with potential investors.
May 15, 2019
How to plan a successful recapitalization strategy
Recapitalization — the process of changing a company’s capital structure through the issuance of new debt or equity securities — is a popular way to fund acquisitions, growth strategies, partner
April 30, 2019
In Raising Capital, Who Invests Is As Important As How Big The Check Is
The serial entrepreneur and CEO of SPR Therapeutics talks about her process for raising capital, as well as the role non-dilutive capital has played in her fundraising formula.
April 16, 2019
Capital-raising tips from a CEO who bagged $9 million in 90 days
XaTek CEO John Zak shares his approach to raising capital and the advantage of doing it all at once.
March 28, 2019
BrewDog USA’s crowdfunding model raises awareness along with money
Former CEO Tanisha Robinson explains how crowdfunding payed a key role in the beer maker's whirlwind growth in the U.S.
March 15, 2019
There is no ‘exit’ for restaurant investors
Investing in a restaurant sounds glamorous, doesn’t it? And that’s become truer as TV depicts chefs as rock stars. Veteran restauranteur Craig Barnum, who raised capital for his first restaurants more than 20 years ago, paints a different picture — one where there are no clear assets or exit timelines.
February 27, 2019
Dan Manges: Root Insurance's journey to unicorn status
Dan Manges shares Root's high-speed capital raising journey and meteoric rise to unicorn status.
