Angel Capital Association Announces Finalists for Innovative Startup Award

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world's leading professional association for angel investors, today revealed the three startup finalists vying for the Association's coveted Luis Villalobos award. The companies, chosen from amongst the thousands of startups nationwide funded by the ACA's 13,000+ members, were selected based on their innovation and ingenuity. One of the three finalists, Cognition Therapies, Luxtech, or ViralGains will be announced as the 2016 winner on May 10, at the 2016 ACA Summit in Philadelphia. The award is named in memory of Luis Villalobos, who angel investors nationwide admired for actively investing in and mentoring ingenious, creative and innovative startups.

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"Luis Villalobos finalists are selected as the most ingenious, creative and innovative amongst peer companies, by some of the most active, accredited angel investors in the country, and this speaks volumes to attributes of each finalist," stated ACA Executive Director Marianne Hudson. 

Former ACA Chair David Verrill of the Hub Angels said this about Boston-based ViralGains, which offers a platform for driving video advertisements to the right consumers, "With 41 of the global Fortune 500 brands already customers, ViralGains is rapidly gaining market traction for their unique consumer-centric video distribution platform, allowing brands and agencies to find those consumers most likely to engage with and share a brand's video content across over 25,000 online publishers, including Facebook, YouTube, and the Open Web."

Pittsburg-based Cognition Therapeutics (CogRx), is focused on discovering and developing disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer's and related neurodegenerative diseases, and was nominated by ACA member group Golden Seeds. Jo Ann Corkran, Golden Seeds Managing Director, noted, "CogRx has pioneered a way to radically accelerate drug discovery at a fraction of the usual cost and has used this revolutionary process to find a drug with the potential to stop, and possibly reverse Alzheimer's disease."

On why Philadelphia-based Luxtech, a leading American manufacturer of integrated LED module technology, received their nomination, ACA member Glen Gaddy of Robin Hood Ventures, explained, "The company's patent-pending Direct-AC technology is recognized by major luminaire fixture manufacturers as the leading technology in the industry because it radically reduces costs and component size while maintaining desired lighting industry performance."

In addition to the Luis Villalobos award, on May 10 ACA will also announce the highly anticipated Hans Severiens Award, honoring the individual whose work has most advanced the field of angel investing.

Investors and leaders of the startup support community can still register for the ACA Summit.  The agenda includes more than 40 sessions for every angel investor experience level and whether they invest individually, through angel groups, or through online accredited investing platforms.

About the Angel Capital Association (ACA)
Known as the voice of the angel investors, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) offers professional development, public policy advocacy and significant benefits and resources to its membership of more than 13,000 accredited investors, who invest individually or through 240 angel groups, accredited platforms and family offices. Since its founding in 2005, ACA has built the world's largest collective of angels across North America, and aligns like-minded angels to build their early-stage investment skills and share innovative ideas and practices. @ACAAngelCapital; #ACAAngelSummit.

Contact:
Cheryl Isen, Media Relations for Angel Capital Association
425-222-0779
Email

SOURCE Angel Capital Association

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http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org