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The Impact Cherub Club Meets Monthly to Consider Impact Investments Made Via Crowdfunding
The Impact Cherub Club launched at the beginning of the year. The club is thriving, and we’re genuinely having fun making investments and changing the world $100 at a time.
Think of this as being a bit like philanthropy, but you might get your money back.
April Meeting Report
Diligence Reports
At our last meeting, we listened to brief due diligence reports presented by club members on three companies: Joule Case, Engen Bio and VegBox. After listening to the diligence reports, members took a vote on each. Ultimately, the group recommended investing in just one of the three companies.
For now, we’ve decided not to share the recommendation of the club outside of the club. If you’d like to know what we’re seeing, liking and recommending, please join us on May 17 at 3:00 Eastern. There is no cost to participate; you are not required to invest anything ever. When members choose to invest, I don’t touch the money and don’t earn any fees, commissions or favors.
Education Moment
Each month we take a few minutes for an “education moment” to become better, more sophisticated investors. In April, we discussed the criteria we use for evaluating the capabilities of a management team. Experienced investors know that management is the most crucial feature in a company’s success.
Traditional measures of management capacity focus on education and experience. The key to success, however, is the entrepreneurial stick-to-itiveness required to pivot and parry day after day. That trait is more difficult to measure, which often causes people to fall back on education and experience.
The problem with focusing on education and experience is that those criteria can bias investors against entrepreneurs with the required stick-to-itiveness but whose life circumstances, including race, class and gender, may have prevented them from having premier training and job history. We challenged ourselves to check our own biases when evaluating management teams.
New Company Screening
In preparation for the May 17th meeting, we reviewed three candidate companies. After preliminary discussion, we agreed to consider all three for investment. The three companies are briefly profiled below with links to their offerings on crowdfunding sites.
Echo Mind AI
This four-person founder team includes a woman and a Latinx member. Echo Mind AI is employing artificial intelligence to better diagnose soft-tissue injuries. The team has a mindset focused on enhancing care for low-income and other underserved communities by dramatically reducing the need for expensive MRIs. Echo Mind AI is raising on Wefunder.
LIL’ LIBROS
Two Latina entrepreneurs have partnered to create a bilingual publishing company producing popular children’s books. Having already raised over $3 million from almost 10,000 investors, the opportunity is exciting to many. Lil’ Libros is raising on Wefunder.
Oscilla Power
Oscilla Power is developing wave energy converters for two markets. The company designed its 100 KW unit for micro-grid applications for coastal communities and its 1 MW unit for implementation in groups to provide grid-scale power. Wave energy is somewhat more reliable than wind and solar and could be an essential piece of a clean energy future. Oscilla Power is raising money on Start Engine.
Next Meeting—May 17, 2022, at 3:00 PM Eastern
At our next meeting on May 17, 2022, at 3:00 PM Eastern/Noon Pacific, consistent with our plans for future sessions, the agenda will have three items:
Diligence Reports
Education
Preliminary Consideration of New Candidates
Diligence Reports
We’ll begin with the due diligence reports from the Impact Cherub Club members who volunteered to do the research. After hearing the members’ reports, we’ll take votes to determine whether or not to recommend investment in the companies. The decision will be made available to everyone who registers to attend, including those who cannot make it. Register here.
Education
This month’s education topic will be tracking your crowdfunded investments. If you make a $100 investment ten times per year for ten years, you’ll have $10,000 invested in 100 different companies. That’s a lot to track. We’ll show you how.
Preliminary Review of New Candidates
In May, we’ll be following the pattern of past months to conduct a preliminary review of three companies raising money via Regulation Crowdfunding on FINRA-registered portals. Here is a bit of information about each of the three we’ll consider this month.
Trella Technologies
Trella Technologies, led by CEO Aja Atwood, an African American female entrepreneur, has patented indoor agricultural equipment that teaches plants to grow horizontally, allowing for higher yields. Initially developed for cannabis, the company is raising money to grow its market to include food. Trella is raising money on Wefunder with a valuation cap of $30 million and a minimum investment of $100.
Note that the video above is not offensive but is age-restricted only because of the connection to cannabis.
Xense
Xense, led by CEO and founder Ying Zhao, a female entrepreneur, has patented a radical upgrade in CT technology, improving the resolution, reducing the cost of the equipment, shrinking the size, so it requires less space and cutting the amount of radiation exposure to the patient. Xense is raising on Wefunder with a valuation cap of $205 million and a minimum investment of $100.
Flux Hybrids
Flux Hybrids, led by CEO Michael Ulrich, who recently completed his master’s in mechanical engineering, is converting gasoline-powered fleet vehicles, light-duty trucks, to plug-in hybrids affordably and profitably. The company’s conversion provides a 4-year payback at gas prices of just $2.50 by cutting fuel requirements 50 percent. Flux Hybrids is raising on Wefunder with a valuation cap of $6 million and a minimum investment of $100.
Please join us for the monthly Impact Cherub Club meeting on May 17 at 3:00 PM Eastern. There is no cost or obligation. We’re genuinely having fun! Register here for free.
Don’t forget that we’re hosting the biggest impact crowdfunding event of the year, SuperCrowd22, on September 15 and 16, 2022. Our free subscribers can register for the event for just $99.50, half off the $199 public price. Better still, our paying subscribers can register absolutely free. They pay just $5.95 per month or $55 per year, saving them even more! Join us today!