2. FreshTracks Capital Overview
• Founded in 2000
• Based in Shelburne and
focused on investing in
VT
• 3 Funds Raised
– (2001, 2007 & 2013)
• Invested in 30 portfolio
companies to date
5. Commercial Interruption for Peak
Pitch
• 3/12 @ Sugarbush
• Signups now Open
• Space is Limited
• Best Early Stage
Networking Event
of the Year
6. Matt Dodds @
• From Matt’s
talk to
Vermont
Legislators on
first day of
2015 session
• “Evolving
Brand
Vermont”
7. My first thought was…
“Holy crap Matt Dodds has been stalking me this year”
8. National VC trends Slightly Improved in
2014
• Q1 – Q3 2014 186 firms raised $24Bn vs. $18Bn for all four
quarters of 2013
• In Q3, 5 firms accounted for 50% of the money raised by the
industry > there continues to be concentration in hands of a
few big firms
• IPO activity in 2014 highest since 2000
• Lots of M&A activity at crazy looking valuations: $19Bn for
WhatsApp which had $20MM in revenue
• Crazy looking venture valuations: What do Instacart, WeWork
Companies, Stripe and Kabam have in common?
9. What about the Angels? Q2 SVB Halo
Report
• Round size of “angel only” deals drops
• But, more angels cooperating with venture and
“non angel” investors in syndicates
• Median valuations up
– ($3MM “Pre” compared to $2.7MM in Q1)
• Angel groups active in non-traditional markets
– Texas in top three
– Maine in top eight
• Healthcare deals up
• Internet & Mobile deals down
10. Alternative Funding
• Kickstarter (Rewards Crowdfunding)
– In 2013, Kickstarter platform
raised $480MM from 3MM
people.
– In Q2 ’14, Kickstarter raised
$144MM from 1.1MM people
• Equity Crowdfunding Portals:
– In 2013, helped raise $204MM
– In Q1 2014, helped raise $90MM
11. But cracks in the “social fiber” of VC &
Tech Communities are appearing
13. 2013 VT VC Funding Compared to the
Region
Stat
e
Deals/MM
populatio
n
U.S.
Rank
VT 16 7
NH 12 11
ME 3 36
CT 15 9
MA 53 1
NY 20 4
RI 12 10
http://www.ssti.org
• In 2013 VT was well
below average for
Dollars invested per
1MM residents
– 2013 U.S average
$53MM per 1MM
– 2013 VT was
$34MM per 1MM
• Q1 – Q3 2014 VT is
$50MM per 1MM
15. Additional Detail for VT Private
Investments
2014 Vermont “Reg D” deals not included on previous slide:
•23 companies raised at least $17MM
– From small deal at $30K, to
– NG Advantage raising $5.5MM
•Of note:
– 3 breweries
– 3 Ag-related deals
– Several consumer product cos.
– 2 food deals
16. • Ello Accolades:
– 9 most significant deals of 2014 (Inc. Mag)
– 2015 most surprising things to watch (Forbes)
– # 9 most popular social network (Cowen & Co)
• What the conversation should be about:
– Why Burlington and Boulder, not Silicon Valley?
– Why is a tech co. a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC)?
– Venture investors will invest in a PBC?
– How is this different that a B-Corp?
– Does this signal a convergence of values and $s?
– What does this mean for the VT Technology ecosystem?
Vermont Deals of Note
17. Vermont Deals of Note
IrisVR
•Graduate from Middlebury
•Win LaunchVT
•Hire handful of young
professionals
•Raise angel capital
•Accepted into TechStars
NY
•Get ready for really big
things in 2015
18. Vermont Deals of Note
• CleanEthics based in Richmond, VT & Founded in 2010
• Take a bike ride, end up with stale Camelbak & find a pain
point to solve
• Start your company & build a product
• Apply to Shark Tank > Get a deal with a Shark.
20. An IPO?
• Files S-1 January 5th
2015
• This will be first VT
company to go public in
more than a decade
• Still relatively small
company to go public
($45MM revenues first 9
months of 2014)
• Will be interesting to watch
this offering progress
• Zero press coverage so far
in Vermont
21. Road Pitch – First Annual August 2014
• 30 riders
• 1 Lt Gov
• 4 days
• 7 towns
• 28 pitches
• 500 miles
• 1 rain storm