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FD Venture Farm announces strategic partnerships with leading Angel Investor Organizations

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Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) May 31, 2013

FD Venture Farm, LLC today announced a strategic relationship with six of the nation’s leading Angel investor organizations. These Angel groups will utilize FD Venture Farm’s technology platform and services to manage and socialize portfolio company business updates and to facilitate syndication initiatives between Angel organizations for follow-on seed and seed prime investments. Series A institutional investors, strategic investors and corporate acquirers will also leverage the FD Venture Farm to identify angel funded companies ready for institutional capital or a potential acquisition.

The following Angel Investor Organizations have joined the strategic initiative:


    Georgia – Atlanta Technology Angels (ATA)
    Georgia – Ariel Savannah Angel Partners (ASAP)
    Alabama – Angel Investor Management Group (AIM)
    South Carolina – Upstate Carolina Angel Network (UCAN)    
    North Carolina – Piedmont Angel Network (PAN)
    Florida – Tamiami Angel Fund I, LLC (TAFI)

“Angel Investor organizations have grown significantly over the last decade and have emerged as the nation’s most significant driver of capital formation for early stage ventures,” observed Mike Eckert, Vice Chairman of the Angel Capital Association. “Angel organizations are becoming more organized and sophisticated in the manner in which they collaborate, not only within their respective local organizations, but across geographical boundaries. The FD Venture Farm platform will help create synergies with an expanding group of Angel organizations and will significantly help early stage companies facilitate capital formation and exit activity.”

“Improving the efficiency of capital acquisition for both investors and companies is a major goal of our business model,” said Dick Reeves, CEO of the Angel Investor Management Group. “We manage investments by over 200 people in over 16 different companies, and constantly seek ways to smooth the flow of information in all directions and over all our geographies. FD Venture Farm appears to have great potential to facilitate these goals.”

“The FD Venture Farm platform supports important strategic and operational directives of our organization, “said Bernie Dixon, Executive Chairman of the Atlanta Technology Angels. “It is important to provide our membership a mechanism to track the progress of our funding activities after investments have been made and throughout the entrepreneurial and funding lifecycles.    As an independent service, associated with one of the largest CPA firms in the country, FD Venture Farm represents a trusted and professional resource to fulfill our needs and support the ATA ecosystem.”

“Increasing the reach and efficiency of Angel organizations is critical to fueling the vital entrepreneurial activities in our nation’s economy,” said Matt Dunbar, Managing Director of Upstate Carolina Angel Network and Angel Capital Association Board member. “Our group has been searching for a much needed process and technology platform to enable our early stage ventures to provide important financial and milestone updates on their businesses as they mature. The FD Venture Farm platform represents an independent and professional service that will standardize company updates and help us manage access to those updates not only for our organization, but also for other Angel organizations, larger institutional and corporate investors, and potential strategic acquirers.”

“Angel organizations are a critical source of funding for early stage ventures,” said Mark Rainosek, CEO and President of FD Venture Farm. “We are excited to be able to bring value to leading Angel investor organizations. FD Venture Farm provides the technology and processes to intelligently monitor and track early stage companies for Angel investors as well as interested institutional and strategic investors and acquirers.”

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About FD Venture Farm

FD Venture Farm, LLC is an independent deal monitoring service designed to facilitate the tracking of specific companies of interest to investors. Companies tracked through the service are limited to those referred by approved institutional and private equity capital investors and lenders. FD Venture Farm is a Frazier & Deeter company.

About Frazier & Deeter

Frazier & Deeter LLC is a nationally recognized CPA and Advisory firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm provides tailored services across a wide range of tax, audit, accounting and advisory needs. Frazier & Deeter is one of the 100 largest firms in the country and has been named the #1 Accounting Firm to Work For in the U.S. by Accounting Today magazine and a “Best of the Best” CPA firm in the U.S. by Inside Public Accounting.







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IAN and Michelin launch farm to market incubator

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IAN and Michelin launch farm to market incubator
The challenge of moving food produce efficiently from farms to tables, reducing the current level of waste, creates many opportunities to invent and grow profitable businesses in India. IAN encourages entrepreneurs to come forward with ideas and …
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How Social Entrepreneurs Can Turn Small Ideas Into Big Impact
Everyone talks about cross-sector partnerships, but what does it really take to effectively solve global problems and have a viable business? As an entrepreneur, it can be daunting to figure out which partners can help you scale an idea to truly have …
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Comedian Carl Donnelly loves the silliness in his business
It doesn't really matter what the joke was about; suffice to say it involved shellfish and food poisoning. What he liked about it was … "I never knew what I wanted to do," he says, "but I always had ideas constantly going round my head." He had kept …
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Vote Now, Vote Often, Help SAF Be a Winner in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Program

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Helena, Montana (PRWEB) April 04, 2013

Student Assistance Foundation (SAF) needs your votes — today, tomorrow, and every day for the next three weeks.

As a finalist in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist grant program, Montana-based SAF is one of 200 causes from across the nation competing to receive a $ 25,000 grant for its “A Step Ahead” College Prep Camp for Montana youths in foster care. The 40 programs that garner the most votes will receive $ 25,000 each to support their cause.

Vote for “A Step Ahead” at https://www.state-assist.com/cause/5109/a-step-ahead-camp

today through April 22. Supporters can vote up to 10 times per day.

“Did you know that about 70 percent of foster youths across the nation want to attend college, but less than 13 percent of them enroll?” said Rhonda Safford, camp coordinator. “At SAF’s ‘A Step Ahead’ camp, we are committed to changing that statistic by giving these youths the tools and resources they need to succeed. Receiving State Farm Neighborhood Assist funds would go a long way to helping us do that.”

For the past seven years, youths in foster care from across Montana have gathered at a college campus to experience college firsthand. While at the camp, youths stay in the dorms and receive classroom instruction in areas including money management, relationship-building, finding and maintaining housing, and scholarship searches and applications. Plus, camp participants learn the purpose of Education and Training Vouchers (ETV) for youth in foster care and how to properly complete the application forms.

Finally, campers leave “A Step Ahead” with a free laptop computer to use as they work toward their education goals — a tool that camp organizers view as being essential to success in postsecondary education.

“Getting a college education is very important,” said past camp participant Aurelia Tait, who attends Cottey College in Missouri. “You can’t go anywhere in life if you don’t go to college. College opens up so many doors you didn’t know existed. ‘A Step Ahead’ camp helped me realize that.”

Safford encourages everyone to vote now and vote often.

“We need every vote we can get, and your support will make a big difference in the lives of our campers,” she said.

Student Assistance Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Montana corporation that provides students with knowledge and tools to finance and pursue their postsecondary education. Funds generated by SAF are returned to Montanans in the form of education grants and public benefit programs – to date more than $ 27 million. For more information, visit http://www.safmt.org or http://www.SmartAboutCollege.org.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative that lets communities determine where funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The initiative utilizes the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to vet submissions for causes and allows Facebook users who download the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist application to vote for the final 40 grant winners. The program has been inspired by the incredible number of neighborhoods that are coming together to solve a problem or improve their community.







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The Crucibles Bike Program in a Race to Win $25,000 through State Farm Neighborhood Assist's Facebook Challenge

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Oakland, CA (PRWEB) April 05, 2013

The Crucible, West Oakland’s premier industrial arts and educational space, has been selected as one of 200 finalists in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist™ program. Chosen from over 3,000 submissions, The Crucible’s “Bikes for West Oakland” project is live on Facebook, with all Facebook users eligible to vote for the cause up to ten times a day. The forty causes that receive the most votes by April 22, 2013, will receive a $ 25,000 grant to implement their respective projects.

“Bikes for West Oakland” embodies the heart and soul of The Crucible’s community initiatives. Comprised of Bike Fix-A-Thons, the Earn-A-Bike Program, and Art Bike Frame Alteration classes, The Crucible’s Bike Program builds viable job skills, helps community members gain access to goods and services, bolsters health, and sparks creativity. The program impacts over 700 youth and 2,000 community members in the West Oakland area each year. A $ 25,000 grant from State Farm would enable The Crucible to purchase materials, compensate instructors (many of whom live in the neighborhood), and expand the program to serve even more Oakland residents.

To support The Crucible’s “Bikes for West Oakland” initiative, visit the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Facebook page, install the application, and click on the “Vote” button up to ten times in a row. The voting phase is open from April 4 – April 22 and winners will be announced on April 29.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a crowd-sourced, national philanthropic initiative that lets communities determine where grant funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The initiative utilizes the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to vet submissions for causes and allows Facebook users who download the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist application to vote for the final 40 grant winners. The Crucible is one of only three causes in Oakland that are in the running to win $ 25,000, and Bikes for West Oakland is one of only three bicycle-related causes nationwide.







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SAF Still Needs Votes to be a Winner in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist Program

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(PRWEB) April 19, 2013

The instructor looks over a sea of young, eager faces and asks, “How many of you have been in more than five foster care homes in your life?”

All of the youths’ hands go up.

Then the instructor asks, “How many of you have been in more than 10 foster care homes in your life?”

The hands stay up.

Finally, the instructor asks, “How many of you were told that you wouldn’t amount to anything?”

All of the hands remain in the air, but the gazes of many of the teenagers drop. They shift their focus to the floor, remembering the hurtful words they hoped wouldn’t shape their future.

This was the scene at nonprofit Student Assistance Foundation’s first “A Step Ahead” College Prep Camp for Montana youths in foster care.

Eight years, and more than 120 campers later, SAF is more committed than ever to the free, five-day camp, and to giving Montana foster youths the tools they need to make their dreams of higher education a reality.

Each year, campers gather at a college campus to experience college firsthand. While at the camp, youths stay in the dorms and receive classroom instruction in areas including money management, relationship-building, finding and maintaining housing, and scholarship searches and applications. Plus, camp participants learn the purpose of Education and Training Vouchers (ETV) for youth in foster care and how to properly complete the application forms.

Finally, campers leave “A Step Ahead” with a free laptop computer to use as they work toward their education goals — a tool that camp organizers view as being essential to success in postsecondary education.

SAF was notified recently that “A Step Ahead” has been selected as a finalist in the State Farm Neighborhood Assist grant program. We are one of 200 causes selected from 3,000 applicants from across the nation competing to receive a $ 25,000 grant. The 40 programs that receive the most votes will receive $ 25,000 each to support their cause.

Take a few moments each day — even on the weekend — until April 22 to vote for “A Step Ahead” at https://www.state-assist.com/cause/5109/a-step-ahead-camp. You can vote up to 10 times per day, and we would encourage you to do so. Invite your friends and family to support our cause as well. Every vote counts!

Student Assistance Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Montana corporation that provides students with knowledge and tools to finance and pursue their postsecondary education. Funds generated by SAF are returned to Montanans in the form of education grants and public benefit programs – to date more than $ 27 million. For more information, visit http://www.safmt.org or http://www.SmartAboutCollege.org.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative that lets communities determine where funding is awarded, exclusively through Facebook. The initiative utilizes the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to vet submissions for causes and allows Facebook users who download the free State Farm Neighborhood Assist application to vote for the final 40 grant winners. The program has been inspired by the incredible number of neighborhoods that are coming together to solve a problem or improve their community.