LaunchCapital Announces Investments in Six Startups

Massachusetts venture investors have long taken heat for the perception, at least, that they shy away from very early-stage (read, risky but potentially game-changing) investments—and many folks have pointed to a relative dearth of venture firms that specialize in seed-stage plays.

In recent months, though, there seems to be a definite uptick in interest in early-stage investments. In February, Wade wrote about the Boulder-CO-based TechStars startup boot camp coming to Cambridge. And just yesterday, we carried the news about Boston’s Spark Capital and its new startup seed fund.

On the heels of the Spark announcement, another venture firm in the early-stage arena, Cambridge, MA-based LaunchCapital, announced its latest round of seed investments. Ryan profiled the firm back in January, and LaunchCapital, as we have disclosed, was an investor in Xconomy’s Series A-1 round last November. The firm, which has offices in New Haven, CT, and San Francisco, in addition to Cambridge, specializes in smallish investments—averaging around $125,000—across a variety of industries. And Elon Boms, a founder and the managing director of LaunchCapital, told Ryan the firm typically makes its decision within 10 weeks of hearing the first pitch (yeah!).

Yesterday’s announcement covered six startups—five in New England—the company has invested in over the past three months. In alphabetical order, they are:

—Cardiophotonics (New Haven, CT) — Develops non-invasive blood monitors used to detect cardiac arrhythmia and dehydration

—FMP Products (Greenwich, CT) — Laboratory automation equipment and related software—initially in fields of sample processing, imaging, and liquid handling—designed to increase researcher productivity

—Helix (Guilford, CT) — DNA therapeutics

—iTeam (Westford, MA) — Seeks to simplify IT and audio/visual installation through Software-as-a-Product model

—SafePorch (Dunnellon, FL) — Like the name sounds, offers specialized storm shelter products in hurricane prone regions of the country

—Vigix (Cambridge, MA) — Next generation kiosk technology for self-service retail sales

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.