Alternative Investing Forum - October 18, 2021
Investor Judges
Moderator - Investor Pitch Competition
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Moderator - Investor Pitch Competition
John Nemanic, Partner, Green Coast Capital
John Nemanic is a partner in Green Coast Capital International S.A. Green Coast is an international investor providing flexible and innovative financing to the small-cap and micro-cap marketplace in a variety of sectors. Our team consists of experts in capital markets making quick decisions to provide growth capital to issuers.
John is a serial entrepreneur and investor. As co-founder, Chairman and CEO, he exited 3 very successful Internet start ups. In 2006, Hostopia raised 29.2 million (TSX:H), then sold to Deluxe Communications for $124 Million USD. Tucows was sold to the Steinmetz Group for $45 Million April 1999. Tucows current market cap. is over $600 Million. Internet Direct was merged with Look Communications in 1999 with a deemed value of $560 Million John's current interests are medical cannabis, cultivation, hemp and CBD start ups, with a focus on Colombia. He is married to Sandra Carrillo MD a leading expert in Cannabis for clinical applications, and was appointed as "Clinical professor in charge of the scientific program for cannabis research and education", Faculty of Medicine, University of Panama. John manages Panamanian and Colombian based businesses. He is a former member of EO Panama and has extensive contacts within Panama. He also is a former member of EO Toronto (1995) and YPO Toronto (1999). He is actively seeking high-return opportunities to invest in and serve as a director for high-quality cannabis oriented firms. If you are seeking a highly experienced operator, a dynamic leader who understands the growth cycles of start-ups, and how to develop exit strategies please contact John Nemanic. About Green Growth Partners Green Coast Capital International S.A is a private international investment firm focused on investing in small- and micro-cap publicly traded growth companies. We provide flexible debt and equity structured investments across several international markets. We seek to invest in high growth and distressed situations. Green Coast Capital International S.A allocates capital across all industries in four core strategies: discounted equity, convertible debt, convertible preferred equity, and undervalued open market opportunities. We only manage our own capital giving us the ability to make timely and qualified investment decisions.
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Adryenn Ashley, Founder & CEO, Wow! Is Me
Adryenn Ashley is a sought after speaker in the blockchain investor space. As a mentor to startups worldwide, she uses her well-honed techniques to transform worthy projects into investible assets that build community.
In addition, her work teaching family offices and hedge funds the art of due diligence in blockchain projects has made her the go-to expert with investors with enviable deal flow. About Wow! Is Me Your single destination for all things Blockchain and NFTs. We’ll help you build thriving and engaged communities providing direct access to your fans.
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Barbara Bickham, Managing Director, CTO, Trailyn Ventures
Barbara Bickham, an award-winning CTO and VC Fund Manager with extensive experience in Technology, Entrepreneurship and Fundraising. She has 35+ years’ experience in Technology and Entrepreneurship. She has 10+ years in Venture Capital and Private Equity.
Barbara is the Managing Director for Trailyn VC a pre-seed venture fund for diverse deep tech founders. Barbara is the Managing Director for the award-winning Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator (wifaxvc.com), a QOZ fund, accelerating growth by using a mix of sustainability, acceleration and funding while requiring participants to have a C-suite made up of at least 50% women. She handles the portfolio construction and LP relations. She created a Virtual Accelerator teaching an 8-week Due Diligence and Sustainability Intensive. Barbara is currently Founder and CTO of Trailyn Ventures, helping investors and entrepreneurs understand emerging technology. Companies include The Aclyd Project - Sustainability, Payment and Remittance on the Blockchain; 2TransFair - Payment and Remittance on the Blockchain; Plaak - Exchange; EVRealities - AR/VR Attribution on the Blockchain; Rechain - Universal Rewards on the Blockchain, and others. Investors participate in the Emerging Tech Lab, a 3-Month Mastermind that trains them on emerging technology and investing like a venture capitalist. She is the Host of Female VC Lab Podcast, insightful conversations on the journey of Female VCs, Investors, GPs and LPs. Previously, Ms. Bickham was the Director of Engineering for Flexeye where she architected, designed and coded the 2014 Gartner Cool Vendor Award Winning REST API for their IoT Platform eyehubiot.com. Ms. Bickham founded TechGenii, Inc., a digital strategy company; Wilderforex.com, a Forex Software company; and PCNLA an investment association connecting Southern California businesses with venture funding. She has raised Millions of Dollars as a CEO and CTO. She is on the Board of CryptoKidsCamp; Advisory Board of the MIND Institute, Project New Dawn and Freeman Capital; an EIR at Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator; and a Mentor for Springboard Enterprises, Stubbs Alderton PreCellerator, and MakeInLA. She was an Advisor and EIR at the Bixel Exchange. She holds degrees from the University of Chicago, New Entrepreneurs Program, an MSCS from West Coast University and a BACS from University of California, Berkeley. About Trailyn VC Trailyn VC a pre-seed venture fund for diverse deep tech founders.
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Claudia Mora, Managing Director, Black Legend Capital
Investment Banking professional with financial advisory and M&A experience primarily in oil & gas, mining, gaming & lodging, consumer products, tech, and cannabis, with transactions ranging in size from $10 million to $6 billion.
Ms. Della Mora is the Co-founder of BLC, a financial advisory and investment firm based in Los Angeles with satellite offices in Houston, New York, London, Hong Kong, and Melbourne. During her tenure at BLC, she successfully invested, assisted in the capitalization, and helped business develop small cap oil companies in Kentucky, Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Colorado, California, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska. She has also structured oil & gas partnerships in several U.S. states, and in Ecuador, Central America. Ms. Della Mora has been involved in many LNG (Liquid to Natural Gas) projects in the U.S., as well as many commodity trades worldwide. She has personally advised also Chinese conglomerates in their U.S. oil & gas investments. Since 2015 she has advised and has structured financing for every vertical in the Cannabis Hemp space and different geographies from Europe, North America, South America, and Australia. Ms. Della Mora also served as a partner at OFS Capital Group, a financial advisory firm and merchant bank based in Hong Kong, where she was responsible for fundraising and taking public in the U.S. public market, coal & gold mines based in Indonesia and other parts of Asia. Prior to that, she was employed in the Gaming & Lodging Group at Bank of America Securities LLC/ Merrill Lynch in Los Angeles, where she successfully advised and funded companies such as MGM, Dubai World and Wynn Resorts. Ms. Della Mora also worked as an investment banker in the Consumer Products Group at Partnership Capital Growth Advisors in San Francisco and at Hadley Partners Inc. in Los Angeles, where she advised food & beverage companies and chains of retailers. She graduated with a BA in Economics and a minor in Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley. About Black Legend Capital Black Legend Capital (BLC) is a group of Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) investment bankers who also acts as principals in selected transactions. BLC works on M&A transactions, facilitates IPO’s (taking companies public), provides financing options, and structures equity and debt placement for private and public companies. BLC has facilitated several industry projects to generate leading returns while adding value to corporate clients, institutional investors, and high-net-worth individuals. Black Legend Capital’s partners have extensive advisory experience in structuring deals across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. BLC’s industry focus is predominantly in the Cannabis, Technology, Oil & Gas, and Consumer Product sectors. Most recent engagements have been private and public cannabis companies along with some technology and consumer product deals. Black Legend Capital was founded in 2011 by senior bankers formerly with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Duff & Phelps. During their tenure with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Duff & Phelps, the senior members of the Black Legend Capital team completed transactions representing over $13 Billion in aggregate consideration.
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Daniel Barnard, Registered Representative, Financial Architects
Daniel has spent 4 years managing commercial real estate for institutional investors, managing private client investment accounts for 23 years and now helping to raise capital from investors for capital lending purposes and private equity. Dan is advising private US companies primarily in AZ and CA in the areas of marketing, sales, capital raising,and c-suite advisory services.
Dan grew up in Iowa, graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelors degree with an emphasis in Finance, Economics and Leadership. Dan accepted a coveted position with a Chicago based real estate development, real estate syndicator, and management company JMB Realty, Dan's passion for managing all aspects of real estate evolved into accepting a position with Prudential and working with retail investors. in 1998, Dan created Barnard Wealth Management, Inc and for 23 years built a successful retail financial planning company. After identifying the right partner and negotiating a successful sale of his financial planning practice in 2018, Dan transitioned into the role of advisor/shareholder for several local high tech startup companies and a real estate development company. Dan is now assisting the Financial Architects Team with business development, marketing strategies, wholesaling and opening/operating a new office location in Scottsdale, Arizona. About Financial Architects Inc. Financial Architects (“FA”) provides comprehensive financial planning solutions by analyzing a client’s overall financial picture; including tax planning, investment management, and insurance. The firm works in a team approach with CPAs, attorneys and insurance companies to provide solutions to assist clients reach their financial goals. FA has a strong focus on tax strategy as that is often the single largest impediment to growing net worth and gaining financial freedom. FA has over a dozen unique strategies to reduce the taxes and allow the client to reduce their tax footprint, in other words, to keep more of their own money. Whether the tax liability comes from a business, a salary, or the sale of an asset such as a closely held business or piece of real estate, FA can help.
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Dr. David Cunic, CEO, UCS Advisors
David M. Cunic is an entrepreneur who specializes in Investor Relations Advisory services. "Dr. David", as most people know him as, has raised capital, expanded several companies, and has employed over 300+ people. He has been in the medical field for 18+ years, has been a business owner for 19+ years, and has been in the cannabis industry for 10+ years. Some people have called him the "triple headed dragon" due to his diversity and experience. Over the past 16 years, Dr. David has started over 10+ companies, in both the public and private sector, and has successfully sold many of them. His efforts in business operations and human resources won him the prestigious Alfred Sloan Award for Workplace Programs and Flexibility. David has assisted many companies in securing millions of dollars for his clients ranging from the cannabis, hemp, energy, medical, water, and the beverage industry. He has served on numerous boards as an advisor and trusted source of information. Dr. David also performs presentations and speaks at conferences on a variety of topics in both the medical sector and cannabis industry.
About UCS Advisors UCS Advisors is the premier independent investor relations advisory firm, connecting undervalued, emerging companies with independent portfolio managers and accredited individual investors, as well as help to develop your company’s pitch deck, design and implement a proper communications program, such as press releases, webinars, and shareholder conference calls, to properly and effectively communicate your message to the public.
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Greg Yankovsky, Senior Managing Director, Sutter Securities
Greg Yankovsky joined Boustead Securities, LLC in 2020 as Senior Managing Director. Born and raised in Japan, Greg came to the U.S. at age 18 and is a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Greg, based in Las Vegas, began his securities work at Bateman Eichler Hill Richards. From 1985 until 1995 Greg worked in branch management at Paine Webber. In 1995, Greg transitioned into independent production, working in clearing through Bear Stearns, Fidelity and Pershing. Other firms Greg has worked with include Capital Bay Securities, Roundhill Securities, Genesis Merchant Group Securities, National Securities, and McNally Financial. Greg received his BA from Stanford University in 1969 and has a working knowledge of Japanese and Russian. Holds FINRA Series 4, 7, 9, 24 and 63 licenses. Registered with Sutter Securities, Inc. About Sutter Securities Sutter Securities, Inc. is a full-service investment banking firm headquartered in San Francisco. The firm was formed in 1992 by senior investment bankers formerly with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and PaineWebber Incorporated. Our senior bankers are dedicated to providing professional assistance to our clients in the areas of public finance, private placements, financial advisory services, securities trading, litigation support, business valuations, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructurings.
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Jonathan Pappie, CEO, VX Global
Jonathan is a corporate financial consultant who has relationships with traditional financial institutions, equity sources and alternative finance.
His commentary has been published by the World Bank, he was appointed to the Reagan Congressional Commission by the Republican National Trust, and he has worked with the Small Business Administration Advocates Office and the SEC’s Small Business Issuers Advisory Committee.
VX Global is a capital stack accelerator and a Platform based Investment and Debt marketing firm. We work with signed Associates who have Fortune 500 experience and Big 4 backgrounds, who are also interested in working with smaller companies. We help client company's, Boutique Investment Firms, Family offices and CFO's achieve realistic goals through an analysis of available resources with targeted efforts and automated investment systems.
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Josh Kincaid, Capital Markets Analyst, SuperChronics
In a galaxy far far away, Josh was a Securities Risk Analyst managing a $650 million fund in the Investment Banking Industry with proven success in finance, compliance, and operations within a highly regulated industry. He’s experienced the Financial Industry’s stringent regulatory environment and survived a myriad of regulatory changes in the Cannabis Industry.
Yet remains informed of potential changes that could impact the industry, to best leverage his client’s resources and maximize success. Josh has been connecting individuals and businesses within all facets of the supply chain since his internship at the World Trade Center. He keeps a finger on the pulse of the industry utilizing technology and data from HeadSet, New Frontier Data and the Cannabis Alliance, remaining informed by analyzing economic market reactions over the last 6 years. In his spare time, he produces a cannabis business podcast called The Talking Hedge. Josh is an advisor, as well as a Capital Market Analyst, Director of Finance and contract CFO for companies throughout North America. He has a degree in International Business Management from Western Washington University and a Masters in Finance from City University of Seattle and intends to leverage his resources and expertise to drive the Cannabis Industry further. About SuperChronics is a boutique advisory firm that focuses on cannabis finance, data analytics, risk management, and compliance with an emphasis on strategic partnerships, M&As and international expansion.
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Phil Peredo, Managing Director, Sutter Securities Group
Philip Peredo is a Managing Director of Boustead Securities, LLC and Sutter Securities, Inc. and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to Boustead and Sutter, Phil was a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch. Phil is also an investor in the entertainment and hospitality industries in Las Vegas and Southern California.
Originally from the New York City area, Phil operated an offshore outsourcing and procurement business for several years. He has also spent time in the non-profit world as a Director at Goodwill Industries. Prior to this, Phil worked in the Procurement Office of the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers. Phil spent his early career in government and electoral politics prior to entering the business world as a Congressional Staffer, elected official, and White House Intern. Phil enjoys stand-up comedy and playing tennis in his free time. Holds FINRA Series 7 and 66 licenses. About Sutter Securities Sutter Securities, Inc. is a full-service investment banking firm headquartered in San Francisco. The firm was formed in 1992 by senior investment bankers formerly with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and PaineWebber Incorporated. Our senior bankers are dedicated to providing professional assistance to our clients in the areas of public finance, private placements, financial advisory services, securities trading, litigation support, business valuations, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructurings.
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Reginald Grant, Retired NFL Player - New York Jets
Co-Founder & CEO, eSportsInstruction.com
The team is led by former NY Jet, Reginald Grant, MSEd who has a life-time of relationships and knowledge about the sports, and technology sectors. He led the “Watkins Award” from its regional status to its place as the premier award in its sector, and Nisus Software from $186,000 to $1.8 million in sales in about a year. No one is better equipped to lead a company into this new eSports sector.
As far back as 1998, he developed a sports software company based in San Diego, California. Our product “ ePlaybook Football Basics 101” was a finalist and third place finisher for the Start-up of the Year Award presented by the San Diego Software and Internet Council in 1999. Reginald was instrumental in the creation and development of the software program. He directed the development team, compiled all of the research and took the product to market. In 1996 he developed one of the world’s first community-focused website portals “VirtuallyBlack.com.” After its initial success, he sold his interest. He then worked with former Super Bowl Champion “Dokie” Wiliams on the then ground-breaking “ProBook.” A certificated English teacher, since 2oo2. He has taught urban youth, international ESL students and delivered workshops for both education professionals and parents. A former NFL player for the New York Jets, he also finds time to serve on several boards of national organizations working with youth. Reginald is a board member and former chairman of the board for the National Alliance of African American Athletes (The Alliance). The Alliance has presented the premier award in the nation for African American high school male scholar athletes for the past 27 years and boasts a 98% college graduation rate. He is the author of "Thoughts of An Urban Teacher" (2017), "Effective Mentoring in the 21st Century" (workbook 2017), "Success Stories Insights by African American Men"(2016),”A Case for Bilingual Education” (2015),“A Teacher’s View Education in America.”(2014) and numerous teacher guides, workbooks, and articles. Let’s start at the beginning, back in 1998 Super Bowl Champion and PHd., Dan Audick approached me about his concept of providing instruction for professional football teams using computers. This was an innovate and cutting edge concept at the time. I was working for a cutting edge software company Nisus Software which specialized in products for the Apple computer. Their primary product was a word processor Nisus Writer. I had worked in the internet industry and on other sports related projects so, I was sold as to what the future held. We collaborated and started a company “ePlaybook” to develop an instructional product for sports teams. At the end of a year we evolved and developed a instructional CD based product for the consumer market aimed at novice sports fans and women entitled “ePlaybook 101 Football Basics.” It was developed to work on the PC and Apple platforms. We placed third out of 250 start-up companies in a competition by the San Diego Software and Internet industry Council competition. We invested about $150,000 and competed against companies with budgets exceeding $ 24,000,000 and, kicked butt. We then landed a pitch session with the head of Software for Apple Clint Richardson in Apples offices in Cupertino, California. We asked for a million dollars and the head of marketing stated “Reggie this is some of the best software we have ever seen, but unless you are Disney, Steve (Jobs) will not authorize the funds.” Needless to say we did not get the big infusion of capital and within a year we dissolved the company. I was determined to move forward and registered eSportsInstruction.com and about ten other related names. But, we were ahead of our time; broadband did not exist as it does today. So, the company eSportsInstruction.com evolved into a marketing, branding and instructional sports camp entity. We hosted camps around the country in San Diego, Los Angeles, Detroit, Tampa, Dallas, and other sites with our partners. We produced licensed products with the “Rose Bowl.” Our advisory board was a who’s who of sports and we watched and waited as the growth and expansion of eSports, gaming and broadband became common place. Sports teams’ eventually embraced instruction and scouting technologies, the technology had caught up with the concept. I eventually entered the educational arena, wrote five books, all the while running camps and events around the nation. I went back to school and earned a Masters in Education with an emphasis on Curriculum development. I began to see the conversion of technology in education, eSports, and traditional sports. The concepts for the re-launch of eSportsInstruction.com took root and here we go. The time is right, the market ready and the opportunity is now. About eSportsInstruction.com We are a community of consultants and coaches focused on your success. Our network is comprised of business professionals, professional athletes, sports industry leaders, investors, and tech innovators. We work with founders, and leadership teams to foster business growth and success. Helping you and your organization stay focused, adhere to your plans and goals while being nimble and agile enough to pivot as required. We are not your traditional group, accelerator, or incubator. Within our network, we have the intellectual resources and expertise to tackle every obstacle to success. We are Not investment brokers, we are consultants & facilitators with extensive expertise and a dynamic network of experts, to help you stay on track to generating more revenues, prepare to raise capital, and meet qualified investors.
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Scott Kelly, CEO, Black Dog Venture Partners
Scott Kelly, Founder and CEO of Black Dog Venture Partners is a 30-year fundraising, marketing, sales, training and publicity veteran. Scott has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital for disruptive companies, garnered national media coverage for hundreds of regional and national brands and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for the companies he has represented.He has also trained over 1,000 sales people and has taught marketing at the university level in the United States and Europe. Scott is currently an Adjunct Professor in the College of Business at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ. When not making his clients famous, Scott spends his time in countless sporting events with his wife and two boys. He loves a good craft beer and playing with his “Black Dog” Melvin.
About Black Dog Venture Partners Black Dog Venture Partners is a business accelerator that provides access to funding through our network of 13,000 investors, business development through our network of 40,000 business partners, sales/marketing and executive coaching services for disruptive companies.
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Shar Broumand, CEO, House of Sevens
Shahriar “Shar” Broumand is an operations and technology executive with over 20 years experience growing businesses around the world. A specialist in operations, technology, supply chain, outsourcing and turnarounds, Broumand has advised and led a number of companies from start-up to exit. A turnaround specialist, Mr. Broumand advises companies across several industries through House of Sevens LLC, his investment and advisory firm. Broumand is currently owner of the En Fuego group in Las Vegas, a hospitality business with two locations in the Las Vegas valley, as well as a Board member and advisor to several start-ups in the drone services, software, gaming, artificial intelligence and real estate development spaces.
Mr. Broumand formerly led the global Managed Services business for Ventyx, an ABB company, based out of Atlanta. Under the guidance of the Board, Mr. Broumand was hired to focus on the strategic turnaround of the services business. Ventyx provides enterprise software and service solutions for the world’s asset intensive industries, with 2014 sales of $600m. Prior to Ventyx, Mr. Broumand was Managing Partner and CEO of BrainNet Supply Management Inc. North America, where he founded the US offices of Swiss Group BrainNet. BrainNet is the world’s leading supply chain and procurement consulting and implementation firm, serving Fortune 1000 clients around the world. The company was successfully sold to KPMG in July 2012. Prior to BrainNet, Broumand was special advisor to the Royal Bank of Scotland, working on the operational turnaround of the Group after the 2008 government bailout. As advisor to the Operations Board he focused on Supply Chain Risk, Outsourcing/BPO, Vendor Management, Cost Reduction and Lean initiatives. Broumand spent 9 years at Ariba, formerly FreeMarkets, where he founded Ariba's Managed Services (BPO) business worldwide. Under his leadership Ariba was named in the top 3 procurement outsourcing companies in 2007 and 2008. The Managed Services business was successfully sold to Accenture in 2011. Ariba was later acquired by SAP in a $5B transaction. As GM of FreeMarkets' UK and Northern Region,Broumand was part of the leadership team that built FreeMarkets from a small start-up to IPO in 1999, and selling the company to Ariba for $500m in 2004. Broumand currently serves on the Board of several companies and non-profit organizations, including Invisible (approaching ~$10m revenue FY2021), AviSight Inc. (currently in acquisition), nooglik Solutions (formerly SYD.Cloud), Houston Hospitality Holdings LLC and Robert Morris University School of Business. He holds an MBA and MIS from Swiss-based European University, and attended Marymount College in Los Angeles. Having lived and worked in several countries he is fluent in English, French and Farsi, and conversational in German, Italian and Spanish About House of Sevens Board and Advisory Board services. Focusing on Start-Ups and Scale Ups, Medium Cap (<$1B revenue), and VC and Private Equity firms. Management and advisory services in Technology, Financial Services, Manufacturing and Private Equity in the area of Operations, Procurement & Supply Chain, Cost Management and Start-Ups/Scale-Ups.
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