announcement

Seattle, WA - Keiretsu Forum Northwest is proud to announce two exceptional hybrid events – The Vancouver Deal Screening and The Vancouver Investor Summit that aims to foster the angel ecosystem in Vancouver and British Columbia. These exclusive gatherings will provide a unique platform for Investors to explore and evaluate high-quality deal flow and potential investment opportunities. While providing startups in the region a significant boost in raising capital.

The Vancouver Deal Screening event, set to take place on Tuesday, July 18^th, 2023, at the SFU VentureLabs in Vancouver, BC, Canada, promises to showcase a lineup of visionary innovation and transformative startups. Attendees will have an opportunity to review the deal flow and vote for their favorite startups to present at the Vancouver Investor Summit. The event will see engaging Q&A sessions with seasoned investors for an interactive and dynamic environment to review startups.

Building on this momentum, the Vancouver Investor Summit will be held on Tuesday, July 25^th, 2023, from 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM at The Vancouver Club. The event will bring together investors, family offices, and institutional investors from across Canada to watch pitch presentations from 6 to 8 startups and growth-stage companies. The one-day event will also feature an exceptional lineup of influential speakers. The Vancouver Investor Summit aims to bring together the largest gathering of family offices, angel, private equity and institutional investors in British Columbia, Canada.

Registration for both events is now open and can be completed through the official website. Attendance is free of charge, offering an exceptional opportunity for like-minded professionals to connect within Vancouver's vibrant entrepreneur and investment community. Secure your spot today and take advantage of this unparalleled occasion to expand your network, gain valuable insights, and be part of the driving force behind tomorrow's business innovations.

For further information, please contact:

Courtney Ebberson

Director Of Events

Keiretsu Forum Northwest & Rockies

cebberson@keiretsuforum.com

About Keiretsu Forum:

Keiretsu Forum is the world's largest angel investor network, bringing together a global community of high-net-worth individuals, venture capitalists, corporate executives, and institutional investors. With chapters spanning more than 50 cities worldwide,  Keiretsu Forum offers an unparalleled platform for entrepreneurs and investors to collaborate, access capital, and achieve their business objectives. For more information, visit - https://www.k4northwest.com/

Private Investors and Family Offices continued to fund innovation through 2022 as Keiretsu Forum Northwest and Rockies prepare to host the Spring 2023 Investor Capital Expo.

Seattle, WA - March 9, 2023 - Keiretsu Forum Northwest and Rockies, the region's largest angel investing network, announced today that Keiretsu Forum members invested $73.8 million in 106 innovative startups that presented in 2022. This marks the highest funding generated in recent times for the group. The investments were made across a variety of industries, including technology, healthcare, consumer products, and clean tech.

To support the growth of the startup ecosystem, Keiretsu Forum Northwest and Rockies will again host its bi-annual Investor Capital Expo on April 5th and 6th at Microsoft. The upcoming Expo will feature 18 startups and growth-stage companies presenting innovative opportunities. The two-day, traditionally all-in-person event, will now provide live online event participation for the over 3,000 members of the Keiretsu Forum global network. This results in the largest organized global angel funding event that will bring together entrepreneurs, angel investors, institutional investors, family offices, and industry experts to discuss the latest trends and opportunities in early-stage investing. The Expo will also feature an award for the Most Valued Company, as voted by both the in-person and online investors participating. This year, the award is sponsored by Votegrity, the leader in combining in-person and digital online voting.

"We need private investors and family offices to be active now more than ever with the recent gut punch the traditional VC industry has suffered. Innovation needs to move forward, and our investors have the G.R.I.T. to lean in and engage with their capital and expertise,” said Brianna McDonald, President of Keiretsu Forum Northwest, and Rockies. "We look forward to bringing together our members and the broader investment community to support the growth and success of the next generation of game-changing startups."

About Keiretsu Forum Northwest and Rockies

Keiretsu Forum Northwest & Rockies is the Pacific Northwest portion of Keiretsu Forum. It includes chapters in Vancouver (Canada), Denver/Boulder, Bellevue, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Portland. Keiretsu Forum Northwest & Rockies has more than 400 members and invested over $700 million since its founding in 2005. For more information, visit www.k4northwest.com

About Keiretsu Forum

Keiretsu Forum is a global investment community of accredited private equity angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate/institutional investors. Keiretsu Forum was founded in 2000 by Randy Williams. Today, it is a worldwide network of capital, resources, and deal flow with 55+ chapters on four continents whose members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities. To date, it has invested over $1 billion in 2000+ companies. The community is strengthened through its involvement in social and charitable activities. www.keiretsuforum.com

$20 million in expected funding for participating companies. Sparrow, Orion Biotechnology Win Most Valued Company awards as voted on by investor attendees

SEATTLE, WA—More than 1,000 accredited investors attended the 2nd annual virtual Investor Capital Expo hosted by Keiretsu Forum. The Expo, which showcased 21 premier growth-stage companies and a robust lineup of keynote presenters at its East Coast and West Coast sessions, also had more than 50 angel groups, investors from 100+ Family Offices, corporate partners, and other investment professionals attending the event. Underscoring the industry shift from in-person, geographically-focused investing, coupled with the power of large angel networks like Keiretsu Forum, a total raise of $20 million is projected for Expo participating companies. 

“The shift of Angel investing to a mainly virtual model has been a boon for accredited investors looking to diversify or catch that next unicorn no matter the geographic location of the investor or the company. It has also opened the floodgates for investors keen to help companies that are impactful, sustainable, and more diverse,” said Randy Williams, Keiretsu Forum chairman and founder.

Sparrow, developing AI-powered personalized feedback solutions that improve individual athletic performance, won the coveted “Most Valued Company” at the West Coast session. Orion Biotechnology, developing next-generation G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-targeted therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases, was named “Most Valued Company” at the East Coast session. Both companies were hand-picked by attending angel investors as a stand-out innovator amongst a group of highly touted, entrepreneurial companies from the U.S. and Canada.

About Keiretsu Forum
Keiretsu Forum is a global investment community of accredited private equity angel investors, venture capitalists, and corporate/institutional investors. Keiretsu Forum was founded in 2000 by Randy Williams. Keiretsu Forum today is a worldwide network of capital, resources and deal flow with over 50 chapters on three continents. Keiretsu Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities. To date, it has invested over $900 million in 2000+ companies.

SEATTLE, July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LumiThera Inc., a commercial stage medical device company offering a photobiomodulation (PBM) treatment for ocular damage and disease, today announced the final topline data from the ELECTROLIGHT pilot study in intermediate dry AMD patients. 

A total of 23 eyes from 15 subjects with Dry AMD were enrolled into the prospective clinical study and treated with PBM using the Valeda^® Light Delivery System (3 times per week for 3 weeks). Eight Caucasian males and seven females were enrolled with a mean age of 75.1 years (65-93 years). The mean time since AMD diagnosis was 5.0 years (0-14 years). Subjects were tested for safety and functional vision improvements using the Diopsys electroretinogram (ERG) device. ERG is a diagnostic test that measures the electrical activity of the retina of the eye in response to a light stimulus. All subjects were tested at weekly intervals for ERG function prior to the start of the next week of PBM treatments. The study followed the patients out to 6 months. The study was conducted by Dan Montzka, M.D. and Larry Perich, D.O. at the Perich Eye Center (New Port Richey, Florida).

Multi-luminance Electroretinogram (ERG) Magnitude AUC improved by 14.4% from baseline after completion of the Month 1 treatment and showed a 9% improvement at 6 months in the ITT population. A positive correlation between multi-luminance ERG and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was seen (p < 0.05) following initial PBM treatment. Positive correlations between multi-luminance ERG and fixed luminance (R = 0.870) and chromatic ERG outcomes (R = 0.676) were also reported in the Month 1 interim analysis.

Subjects showed approximately 12.8 ± 0.98 letter improvement in BCVA at Month 6 compared to BL scores. Mars Contrast Sensitivity (CS) also showed improvement from BL to Month 6 at 40 cm (0.202 log + 0.02), 80 cm (0.197 log + 0.02) and 120 cm (0.28 log + 0.03).

"Valeda provided statistically significant and sustained improvements in BCVA, CS and multi-luminance ERG function from baseline out to Month 6 time point following 9 PBM treatments," stated Dan Montzka, M.D. "Diopsys multi-luminance ERG is an early, sensitive and quantitative measure of visual dysfunction in dry AMD patients."

"The study further confirms previous LIGHTSITE I and II studies that the Valeda Light Delivery System improves visual function," stated Larry Perich, D.O. "The subjects were very pleased with the results of their treatments and no safety issues were seen."

Diopsys ERG testing is a powerful and quantitative diagnostic that can be coupled with LumiThera's PBM treatments to characterize early patient benefits on visual function," indicated Joe Fontanetta, CEO, Diopsys. "These results of this work will allow physicians to diagnose, treat and monitor patients and provides physicians a solution for a disease with limited treatment options."

"We are strong supporters of treating degenerative disease early to slow the progression of vision-threatening disease." stated Clark E. Tedford, Ph.D., President and CEO, LumiThera, Inc. "The key in chronic ocular disease is early diagnosis, treatment and monitoring and we hope studies such as this pilot pave the way to a more preventative approach. The patients in the ELECTROLIGHT study are similar in demographics as the LIGHTSITE III US study in terms of time from dry AMD diagnosis, AREDs use and age. Previously, we reported the US LIGHTSITE III dry AMD trial fully enrolled 100 subjects in 1Q of 2021 and is continuing to move forward with the 13-month efficacy timepoint for all patients in 1Q of 2022."

About AMD

AMD is a leading cause of vision loss for people age 65 and older.  Losing central vision can make it harder to see faces, drive, or do close-up work like cooking or fixing things around the house.  The overall prevalence of AMD is estimated to increase 7-fold with age, from 4.2% in those aged 45–49 years, to 27.2% in those aged 80–85 years. Globally, the prevalence is estimated to increase by 20% between 2020 (195.6 million) and 2030 (243.3 million).

About Diopsys

Diopsys, Inc. is a leader in modern visual electrophysiology medical devices that help eye care professionals analyze the entire visual pathway for visual and neuro-visual disorders. The company provides both Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) and Electroretinography (ERG) vision testing technology. It is this technology that powers Diopsys, Inc.'s medical devices – the Diopsys^® NOVA^™, Diopsys^® ARGOS^™, and Diopsys^® RETINA PLUS^™ ERG and VEP Vision Testing System product series and the Enfant^® Pediatric VEP Vision Testing System.

About LumiThera Inc.

LumiThera is a commercial-stage medical device company focused on treating people affected by ocular damage and disease including dry age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in adults over 65. The company is a leader in the use of PBM for treatment of visual disorders. The company is commercializing the office based Valeda Light Delivery System to be used by eye care specialists as medical treatments.

The Valeda Light Delivery System has been granted authorization to use the CE Mark by an EU Notified Body as required for commercial use in the European Union only. Valeda is not approved for use by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

Credit: 

Also ranked on the Global Stage as the ‘2nd Most Active early and late stage investors’

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—April 13, 2021, Setting a standard for most active investors three years running, Keiretsu Forum, the world’s largest angel investor network, today announced Pitchbook has released its 2020 Annual Global League Tables highlighting Keiretsu Forum as the U.S. Region’s #1 and # 2 Most Active Late and Early Stage investors.

Impressively on the Global Stage, Keiretsu Forum was ranked the # 2 Most Active, Early, and Late Stage investors. Keiretsu Capital, the exclusive worldwide fund partner of Keiretsu Forum, continues to be a top-tier funder of late-stage investment deals in the network.

Keiretsu Forum is known by investors and entrepreneurs alike for its proven approach for originating quality deal flow and success syndicating early and late-stage investment opportunities around the world.

2020 was a banner year for Keiretsu Forum, with the organization achieving a record 314 fundings (including follow-on fundings) into seed, early-stage and late-stage companies in 2020. Deal activity increased approximately 16% compared to 2019, with Life Science, Medical Devices, Environmentally and Sensitive/Aware, and solution-driven Technologies attracting the most capital.

In 2020 Keiretsu also expanded its international footprint, now with 50+ chapters on four continents.

About Keiretsu Forum

Keiretsu Forum is a global investment community of accredited private equity angel investors, venture capitalists and corporate/institutional investors. Keiretsu Forum was founded in 2000 by Randy Williams. Keiretsu Forum today is a worldwide network of capital, resources and deal flow with 50+ chapters on four continents. Keiretsu Forum members invest in high-quality, diverse investment opportunities. To date it has invested over $900 million in 2000+ companies. The community is strengthened through its involvement in social and charitable activities.###