A new angel investing group is tailored to high net-worth women who want to learn more about investing. Newport Beach-based OSEA Angel Investors co-founder Xandra Laskowski is an angel investor and member of the Orange County chapter of Private Capital Network, an international angel investor network, with previous experience in high-level corporate positions, such as Ingram Micro, where she handled $100 million-plus accounts as senior major account manager.
She started Xolas, a Newport Coast-based consulting business for startups, last year.
Co-founder Danielle Hahn previously assisted with investor relations at Private Capital Network and at Archangels Investors, an association of family offices and ultra-high net-worth individuals. She brings networking skills to the group, Laskowski said.
Jassel Lizardi is a managing partner with a background in banking and finance.
OSEA has 20 members, most of whom live in OC. The group operates as a forum, not a fund, Laskowski pointed out.
“It’s a membership group of like-minded women that want to see angel investment opportunities,” she said.
The group is partnering with the Leatherby Center for Entrepreneurship at Chapman University to offer members training sessions on topics such as understanding term sheets. The trainings will be free of charge, but the group will ask members to make a donation to the center.
The private group meets monthly at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club in Corona del Mar, where members hear 15-minute pitches from two startups. Startups don’t pay to pitch, as is typical with angel investing groups. OSEA instead asks them to make direct donations to nonprofit groups or organizations, starting with the Leatherby Center.
The group also gives an early-stage startup that’s not quite ready for funding the opportunity to do a five-minute pitch on its concept and get feedback.
After hearing pitches, it’s up to individual members whether to invest.
One startup that got funding after pitching to OSEA members before the forum officially launched is Laguna Hills-based Savvy Travelers. A few of the group members then contacted the company directly and invested tens of thousands of dollars, founders Tina Aldatz and Margie Floris said.
Smart Workout
A Laguna Beach-based company is seeking $1 million in angel funding to expand various types of “smart” equipment manufacturing and hire sales and support staff. Smart Health Clubs recently launched its smart weight-pin at IHRSA 2017, the global fitness tradeshow held in early March in Los Angeles.
The pin automatically tracks things such as the number of sets and repetitions and calories burned as a user works out. It extends the company’s platform, launched last year, designed to replace separate scheduling, training and nutrition apps into one comprehensive app.
The pins cost $499 each. The company tested the device at Claremont Club, its launch partner, which is California’s largest single-location club, with 10,000 members, Smart Health Clubs co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Dan Jenkins said.
The other co-founders are Chief Executive Praveen Kashyap and Chief Wellness Officer Rob Luecke.
Healthy App
Another app geared to health and wellness has hit the market. An Anaheim Hills-based company launched the mobile app, which provides health and wellness tips based on nutritional intake and health conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure and diabetes.
DIEM’s app gives users daily feedback through tips, to-do lists, and articles based specifically on gender, age, weight, goals, and any pre-existing medical conditions. Users receive daily tasks designed to motivate them, as well as articles based on their health conditions and goals. All of the to-dos and tips are provided by DIEM’s on-staff registered dietician. There are 10 people total on the team.
Downloading the app gets a user a free 15-day trial. After that, it’s $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year. Each quarter, DIEM donates 10% of subscription fees to a different health-based charity, founder Brad von Sprecken said.
In March, MS Awareness month, DIEM also is donating 35% of the sale of products purchased through its website to MS research, von Sprecken said.
MS is a personal issue in von Sprecken’s family. His father has been battling MS for the past 20 years. He said he was inspired to create DIEM as a daily guide to health and wellness following the losses of his wife and mother, who both died from cancer. During that time, he said he constantly searched for ways to stay healthy but didn’t have luck.
