It’s not all too surprising that Ray Chan has his hand in another business.
The longtime Orange County resident has managed funds for the Tech Coast Angels and at one point was managing director of K5 Ventures—one of the region’s more active investment firms that has turned its focus to artificial intelligence in recent years.
Chan is gearing up for a busy year in 2020 at the helm of Koa Accel, a medical device accelerator that functions with a private equity model, and already has two portfolio companies up and running.
While he’s certain the private equity model won’t become a trend, he’s vocal about his own preference for it, which allows him to take a front seat at every company the accelerator brings in.
Its portfolio companies, Makani Science and Microdermics, are going through clinical trials and commercialization stages, respectively. A third company is in the works, Chan said.
