Series B financing that StackIQ is just beginning, Markee said.
StackIQ CEO Tim McIntire co-founded the company to apply the advantages of open source development to enterprise computing and data storage customers. McIntire previously led the U.S. launch of Singapore’s Scalable Systems and was a lead developer in digital imaging analysis at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. At StackIQ he helped develop a comprehensive software suite that automates the deployment and management of Big Data computing systems based on Hadoop, NoSQL DBs, and related programs.
San Diego’s Bright Light Management, which made its public debut today as a new source of investment capital for local startups, shared the spotlight with StackIQ at a breakfast meeting of the San Diego Venture Group. More than 350 people attended the early morning presentation.
Former Qualcomm executive Jeff Belk told the audience he founded Bright Light Management to serve as a San Diego venture partner for OurCrowd. He plans to focus initially on startups developing innovative technologies in mobile health, wearable devices, wireless, genomics, big data, and consumer lifestyle services and applications.
“Jeff is a source of deal flow for OurCrowd in the U.S., and he’s going to be investing alongside OurCrowd in these deals,” said Jacobs, who describes OurCrowd as a hybrid venture capital firm and crowdfunding platform. OurCrowd has a team of professional venture investors who screen deals and oversee the firm’s venture investments. As a venture partner, Belk will be working to identify and evaluate early stage entrepreneurial projects suitable for equity crowdfunding through OurCrowd. StackIQ is the first San Diego startup to clear what Belk describes as OurCrowd’s stringent investment criteria.
As an extension of OurCrowd’s in-house investment team, Bright Light Management represents a kind of beachhead in the United States for the Israeli firm. More partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks and months, according to Gadi Mazor, OurCrowd’s CTO and a general partner.
Belk also co-founded a related business called Velocity Growth to help entrepreneurs raise funding through crowdfunding websites like Indiegogo and KickStarter, which enable users to raise funds by pre-selling products or offering T-shirts and other rewards for donations.
“There are a lot more companies out there that need rewards funding before they can even begin to talk about equity crowdfunding,” said Andy Abramson, chief strategy officer for Velocity Growth.
