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York IE Announces First Cohort Of Startup Investments

(Manchester, NH, February 11, 2020) —  York IE, a hybrid strategic advisory, investment, and operational growth firm, announced today its first cohort of startup investments. Since launching in September, the New Hampshire-based firm has received inbound inquiries from more than 300 startups, has spoken to more than 100, and has now completed seven investments. Additionally, the company has launched a strategic advisory and consulting practice to help these investments, and other startups, grow, and scale.

“Our disruptive approach to venture capital is resonating with entrepreneurs,” said Kyle York, CEO and co-founder, York IE. “This is evident in this first group of investments. These are teams that are solving hard problems, finding a unique niche in or completely disrupting their respective industries and growing rapidly and efficiently. I couldn’t be more proud to be closely involved with this collection of entrepreneurs and startups.”

Investment

Since launching, York IE has invested more than $2 million into its first cohort of seven startups – $1.7 million through York IE’s captive syndicate of high networth individuals and successful startup founders and an additional $400,000 through it’s AngelList syndicate, which has the backing of nearly 1,000 angel investors. The York IE team also added six new members to its captive syndicate each at a minimum commitment of $100,000 per year with a five year pledge, which gives the team more capital to invest in future cohorts. The syndicates operate with a zero management fee model for investors.

The first cohort includes:

  • Datanomix – IoT analytics for industrial manufacturing (Nashua, NH)
  • Cyberhaven – Enterprise data security and IP protection platform for the enterprise governance, risk, and compliance market (Boston/SF)
  • WEVO – Pre-live Marketing technology platform that optimizes experience before going live (Boston)
  • Flywheel – Modern cloud-based informatics platform for biomedical research and collaboration (Minneapolis)
  • Mayflower Venues – Marketplace and software company for nontraditional venues to run their business and offer online planning experiences (Boston)
  • Thundra – DevOps serverless observability monitoring (Boston/SF)
  • Defendify – Holistic cybersecurity platform for SMBs (Portland, ME)

 

“Our relationship with the York IE team has already been valuable,” said Rob Simopoulos, CEO, Defendify. “We wanted a strategic investor that could add more than just money. They have done just that. Whether it is a discussion on sales quotas or how to prepare for an analyst call, they always answer their phone and deliver useful insight from their experience as operators.”

The York IE team has also expanded its investment partnerships as it announces today it has become a Limited Partner with four enterprise-focused strategic technology investors. Those funds include:

  • San Francisco-based 8-Bit Capital
  • Boston-based Elephant Partners
  • San Francisco-based Parade Ventures
  • San Francisco-based Haystack VC

Advisory practice

In addition to these new investments, York IE has also launched its strategic advisory and consulting practice in an effort to help accelerate growth for their investments. The new practice is ideal for startups who are subscription-focused, digitally-led, with a high velocity, end to end Go To Market motion. York IE has already deepened its involvement with several startups, including CloudApp, uConnect and Forcivity.

“As Forcivity evolves from primarily a services business to the leading SaaS product for Salesforce Communities, we need to bolster our corporate storytelling,” said Steve Baines, CEO, Forcivity. “Adding the York IE team to help my great marketing director was a no brainer. These guys know how to build B2B brands.”

Continued momentum 

In December, the firm moved into its new office space in Manchester, New Hampshire and continues to maintain its office in Boston.

Inside the York IE office

Since its September launch, York IE has also been featured by multiple media outlets including TechCrunch, Business Insider and Inc. Magazine. The leadership team has been interviewed on podcasts like How I Sold This, The VentureFizz Podcast and The Prospecting Podcast.

Additionally, the company’s community has grown at a fast pace with its social media accounts having added thousands of followers since launch. In its effort to share its lessons with other entrepreneurs, the firm has written nearly 100 pieces of content to date to educate, motivate, and inspire.

Lastly, the company hired a VP of Product and Head of York IE labs and is building a team around its product offerings. These offerings are being initially developed for internal use cases for the York IE team, but will then be opened up and offered to entrepreneurs and investors alike to deliver value to the startup industry.

To follow the progress on the product and other York IE news, please subscribe to its newsletter: york.ie/newsletter.

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