Seattle’s SeaChange Fund announced Wednesday that its fourth fund has netted $4.6 million, which it will use to power startups in the Pacific Northwest.
Formerly known as Seattle Angel Fund, this most recent fund is the organization’s largest in its three year history, collecting more capital than its previous two rounds combined. It also managed to acquire the capital in less than three weeks — far less than the six or so months fundraising can often require — indicating heightened excitement around SeaChange’s latest crop of investments.
In a statement, Managing Partner Susan Preston said the fund’s new name “evokes the kinetic and evolving nature of the Pacific Northwest’s widely-reported surge in entrepreneurial activity.”
“SeaChange is excited to be a leader in our region’s early-stage investor community,” the statement continued.
The name change reflects the angel fund’s adoption of some venture capital strategies. Preston told Geekwire that SeaChange does group analysis with its angels — who take part in the due diligence process for a month — but also provides a VC-like fund management process.
SeaChange will use its new capital to invest in up to eight new companies in the coming year, with a typical investment range of $500,000 to $600,000. The fund has contributed over $15 million to a pool of 15 Pacific Northwest startups since its founding in 2015, and says its first fund has already tripled in value for investors.
One of the fund’s earliest portfolio startups, C-SATS, was acquired by Johnson & Johnson earlier this year. Founded in 2014 by a team of biostatisticians, surgeons and engineers from the University of Washington, the company provides a performance management system for medical professionals. Other notable portfolio companies include BluHaptics, Ad Lightning, Aqueduct, Format Health, BigLeaf, Utrip and Keepe.
“We’re proud of the high level of success in our investments to date,” Preston said in the statement. “We call our investment model the Rule of One: one investor as a single point of contact, one month of due diligence, then one large check for the chosen startups.”
