Roach Killing Platform Closes $28M Series A, Thrive Capital's Journey from $5M to $3.3B, and the Perils of Mistaking Attention for Traction

Happy Thursday.

In today’s issue:

• Angel Deals of the Week | 101 Deals, 72 Networks

  • HUGE NEWS: Today we crossed 100 angel deals featured. Special subscriber only analysis dropping via email in just 6 hours to celebrate. Don’t miss it!

• Bookmarks I think you’ll enjoy

• The best nugget from my conversation with B2B marketing pro Matt Bell

🔥 Angel Deals of the Week

Angel funding rounds announced in recent weeks, compiled from public sources. These deals represent the elite few that survived an angel network’s vetting process. Note: I have not personally analyzed these companies and am sharing for informational purposes only.

🤖 Deal summaries generated using dealmemo.ai.

📊 Angel Network Investment Tracker: 101 Deals, 72 Networks.

Painterland Sisters | Organic lactose-free skyr yogurt brand

Participating Group: The Angel Group

Painterland Sisters is developing organic lactose-free skyr yogurt from fourth-generation dairy farmers Stephanie and Hayley Painter. The brand is in over 5,000 stores across all 50 states, sold 5.7 million cups in 2024, and is the fastest growing dairy brand with 161.8% dollar growth. The company recently secured seed funding led by The Angel Group, Supernatural Ventures, and Spacestation Investments, with Scoop Ventures participating. Funds will support operations and innovation following its national Whole Foods Market launch.

Stephanie Painter | Westfield, PA | Aug 2025 | Source

Pest Share | On-Demand Pest Control Platform

Participating Group: RE Angels

Pest Share is developing a tech-enabled pest control platform for residential property managers that integrates with property management systems to automate service dispatch. The company services 48 states with 300,000 residential units and serves 700 property management companies including Re/Max and Roofstock. Pest Share recently raised $28 million in Series A funding led by Integrity Growth Partners with participation from existing investors RE Angels, MetaProp, and Capital Eleven. The funds will support expansion across single-family and multifamily rental markets.

Landon Cooley | $28M Series A | Nampa, ID | September 2025 | Source

Helios | Hockey performance wearable tech

Participating Group: Oregon Sports Angels

Helios is developing a shoulder pad-mounted sensor that tracks hockey players' skating metrics including stride speed, agility and total skating time without requiring permanent arena hardware. The company serves youth through professional levels and is the preferred wearable of the ECAC conference. Helios features AI-powered video syncing that automatically clips shifts and combines performance data with instant video feedback. The company recently raised $2.2 million with participation from Oregon Sports Angels, Hockey Hall of Famer Ron Francis, and Stadia Ventures' accelerator.

Bill Near | $2.2M Seed | Portsmouth, NH | October 2025 | Source

Ethical Apparel Africa | Ethical West African garment manufacturer

Participating Group: Ambassadors Impact Network

Ethical Apparel Africa is developing West Africa's largest solar-powered garment factory, producing over 15,000 units daily for major US retailers. Since 2015, the company has created over 900 jobs—70% for women—with wages approximately 3X Ghana's minimum wage. Five Ambassadors Impact Network members recently invested in the company to provide working capital for scaling production and creating 1,000 additional jobs over the next 18 months, supporting EAA's vision of 10,000 quality manufacturing jobs by 2030.

Keren Pybus, Paloma Schackert | London, UK | October 2025 | Source

📣 Have an Angel Deal to Announce?

🔖 Bookmarks

1. 💬 Are SAFE Notes Actually Safe? Andy Palmer of Koa Labs resurfaces Fred Wilson's 2019 SAFE takedown for a fascinating discussion on the merits (or demerits) of the SAFE note.

2. 📽️ Epic Deep Dive: Extensive profile from Colossus on Joshua Kushner and Thrive Capital's rise from $5M first fund to $3.3B empire with insane Stripe and OpenAI bets.

3. 🎯 Traction Before Traction: Thought piece from a16z’s Andrew Chen on how startups can use cinematic launch videos, waitlists, and preorders as precursor metrics before real revenue lands.

🥇 The Nugget: My Top Takeaway from A Conversation with B2B Marketing Expert Matt Bell

Vanity metrics don't pay the bills 📊

LinkedIn followers and post likes feel good but mean nothing if they don't convert to real business.

The critical question isn't how many people are following, it's whether those vanity metrics translate into more legitimate leading indicators like email captures, demos, or qualified prospects.

Takeaway: When a founder says “we have 50,000 followers” (or some other flashy social media numbers), dig a little deeper.

Ask:

• Why are these numbers important to the business?

• What is your strategy for converting followers (or subscribers/likes/etc.) to customers?

Want more? Check out my full conversation with Matt 👇

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more.

🕵️ Looking for an Angel Group?

Finding the right angel community can be tough.

Answer 12 quick questions and I’ll curate 3 groups you might enjoy.

Even better - if one of them feels like a fit, I’ll personally make the intro.

Until Next Week 👋

Thanks for reading - have a great week.

-Andrew

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