Three Recent Midwest Startup Exits Were All Angel Capital Association Award Winners

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Angel Capital Association (ACA), the world's leading professional association for angel investors, today announced that three recent winners of the association's Luis Villalobos Award, have achieved milestone exits, all within one month. Since 2010, ACA's active 13,000+ member angel investors have nominated the most innovative of the thousands of startups they fund for this award. Competition is stiff and only one company is selected annually to win the award, named in memory of Luis Villalobos, whom angel investors nationwide admired for actively investing in and mentoring ingenious, creative and innovative startups. These exits are a testament to the deep professional angel investing expertise of ACA members, and the quality of startups they invest in and nurture across the country.

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ACA Executive Director Marianne Hudson stated, "Angel investing is risky, so it is extremely exciting to have three investment choices validated with both distinguished awards and significant exit returns for entrepreneurs and investors." Hudson added, "These exits reinforce the scrutiny ACA members use to select investments, and the Midwest roots of the three startups underpin the strength of angel investing across the heartland of our country."

• Ohio-based Assurex Health, the world leader in genetic testing to guide behavioral health medication decisions, took home the 2012 Luis Villalobos Award and was acquired by Myriad Genetics on August 3. The agreement which could be worth up to $410 million, included $225 million up front with the potential for $185 million in additional performance-based milestones. Multiple ACA member groups participated in the rounds and nurtured the company's growth over ten years, including Queen City Angels, Ohio Tech Angels, and North Coast Angel Fund. Tony Shipley, Chairman of Queen City Angels, who led the investment said, "Helping to bring in the right partners with the right structure, was critical to our successful journey with Assurex, which began with just two employees and expanded to more than 500 as they achieved countless milestones."

• 2014 Luis Villalobos Award winner EyeVerify Inc., from Kansas City, MO, was acquired on September 12 for more than $100 million, by Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate of China-based Alibaba. Mid America Angels, Nebraska Angels, and Women's Capital Connection, among others, were all early investors in EyeVerify, creator of Eyeprint ID, a patented, secure mobile eye verification technology. Rick Vaughn, Managing Director of Mid America Angels elaborated on their exit, "Beyond being a fantastic exit, because Ant Financial was already an EyeVerify customer, this was a win-win strategic investment for both organizations and we look forward to seeing this technology gain a bigger foothold and scaling across worldwide markets."

• ACA member group BlueWater Angels led the first of multiple angel investments in Ann Arbor, MI-based RetroSense Therapeutics LLC, in 2009. The private, clinical-stage biotechnology company is focused on novel gene therapy approaches to restore vision in patients suffering from blindness. The 2015 Luis Villalobos Award winner was acquired by Allergan on September 6, for $60 million plus additional potential bonus payments when future regulatory and commercialization milestones are reached. These could increase the payout to investors eight-fold. BlueWater Angel president and lead angel investor Ken Kousky stated, "As angel investors we provided the morale support and introductions RetroSense needed early on, and we're thrilled to have Allergan as a strategic partner to help realize the full potential of this game-changing technology."

About the Angel Capital Association (ACA)
As the voice of the angel investors, 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 its 250 angel groups, accredited platforms and family office members. 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. More information is available at:  ACA events and Forbes and Inc. columns, and at www.angelcapitalassociation.org @ACAAngelCapital; #TheAmericanAngel.

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

SOURCE Angel Capital Association

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