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Firm Offers ‘Capital Staircase’ to Growing Companies

Investor Ken Hubbard last week launched Newport Beach-based CapStack West, a private social community portal providing companies access to a variety of financing options.

“Capital stack” refers to the varied types of financing a company needs as it grows and matures.

Hubbard, who previously was acting president of international angel investor network Private Capital Network, wants to supply companies with one-stop shopping that includes not only venture capital but other sources of funding, such as lines of credit and inventory financing.

“We did this for one real reason, to put Southern California on the map as the place to find the right capital at the right time, quickly,” he said.

CapStack West’s platform is based on a company subscription model at an average cost of $50 per month. Companies submit a profile and identify the type of capital they’re looking for, and the platform matches them automatically with all of the capital providers that fit their goals.

The website includes a place for professional experts in fields such as law and mergers and acquisitions to post their profiles and serve as resources. They pay a nominal monthly fee to gain access to both sides of the market.

CapStack West has partnered with Irvine-based Executive Next Practices Institute, which is serving in an advisory and liaison role, Chief Executive Scott Hamilton said.

“We see significant value for our middle- to large-cap member companies in terms of access to a ‘capital staircase’ to fund innovation, acquisition and expansion initiatives,” Hamilton said via email.

Hubbard and his board of advisers have already invited about 25,000 investors to participate. Hamilton said his institute is contacting its network of 11,000 middle-market companies.

Another partner is Aliso Viejo-based OCTANe, a technology innovation accelerator with which CapStack will share deal flow and investor information, Hubbard said.

Tea Party for Everyone

An Irvine-based tea company launched with the goal of creating “a politically neutral brand that celebrates America, its unique history and the diversity of the fifty states that make up this great country.”

America’s Tea sells flavors such as Hawaiian Bliss, Manhattan Hustle, The Jefferson and California Gold.

Each blend reflects a flavor profile, co-founder and Marketing Director Blake Driver said. For example, Hawaii’s state flower is the hibiscus, so Hawaiian Bliss tea is a hibiscus tea.

The company also makes “presidential blends” with associated stories. The OG, short for Original George, is a gunpowder-green tea, which George Washington reportedly drank a lot of during the Revolutionary War, Driver said.

Driver, while working as a marketing director for an Irvine agency, said he saw countless companies go out of business during the recession, “and most of the time it was due to the product they were selling.”

He said he wanted to start a company based on a product that would be “recession-proof.” Tea imports and sales grew each year during the recession as consumers used the beverage as a less-expensive alternative to coffee, he said. He also noticed most tea brands “lacked a content marketing strategy.”

“That is how I knew we could differentiate America’s Tea from the competition,” he said.

America’s Tea donates 5% of every sale to the Marblehead, Mass.-based Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation, which supports American troops. The company offers free shipping to most international military bases, Driver said.

The tea is imported from all over the world and packaged in Indiana. The company started with $10,000, all self-funded, Driver said. Blake’s father, Tod, and his uncle, Brad, are the other co-founders.

AR Poker Game

An Irvine-based augmented reality technology company launched a poker game at the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals this month in Austin.

Candy Lab is promoting “Texas Rope ‘Em,” as the “first ever location-based, augmented reality poker game.” The game enables players to try their hands at beating the dealer. Players get to explore secret locations while building their winning poker hands and are entered into a sweepstakes for a chance to win a grand prize. The game is powered by Candy Lab’s augmented reality engine.

“The timing is perfect for us to show the world the capabilities of our location-based augmented reality engine,” Candy Lab Chief Executive Andrew Couch said in a news release.

Irvine-based Quicksilver Software Inc. designed the gameplay and graphics. It earlier created a live poker game show for a different company and is working on four other augmented-virtual reality projects.

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