TCA: 2010 Bragging Rights, with translation

Tech Coast Angels, (arguably) the nation’s largest angel investment network, announced today that it funded 31 investments, including 12 new deals and 19 follow-on investments in a broad range of start-up businesses, in 2010. (Yes, that’s a big number, but there were plenty of pay-to-play rounds in this total; that’s when the original investors get wiped out. Survivor syndrome: No one counts the deals that died, or are as good as dead. I had 2 in January 2011 alone; yes, I’ll save that for next year.)

TCA was part of $40 million invested in its portfolio companies, including $6 million from the angels and $33.9 million through other sources, e.g. venture capital.
(Of course, that VC money looks good in the press release, but it pushes exits out, how long? Hey, NVCA, is it still 8.6 years?)

Exits: 2010 marked a year of profitable exits for TCA portfolio companies, (the first in a decade) including a Green Dot IPO (NYSE: GDOT) that yielded over 100x return for early investors (9 years to exit, but worth it), the acquisition of Language Weaver Inc. by SDL for $42.5 million (nothing to write home about), and an IPO for Trius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TSRX), (which sounds good, but the jury is still out for Trius investors due to the 8.5:1 reverse split before going public).

TCA had over 600 funding applications in 2010 compared to just over 500 in 2009, (an almost unmanageable number, especially large because we don’t have a bozo filter, i.e. we don’t charge entrepreneurs to apply, so we get plenty of strange applications).

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