Remote Asthma Monitoring Secures Seed Funding, INVEST Act Heads to Senate, and the Brutal Economics of Fridge Real Estate

Happy Thursday, I hope you and yours are having a blessed holiday season.

In today’s issue:

• How does your angel group stack up? Answer here

• Angel Deals of the Week | 125 Deals, 91 Networks

• Bookmarks I think you’ll enjoy

• The best nugget from my conversation with Brook Stroud, Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures

🤔 How does your angel group stack up?

I'm building a benchmark for what drives member satisfaction across angel networks.

If you're in an angel group: Take this 2-minute survey to get the benchmark results + discover how your satisfaction ratings compare to other angels.

Example: "You rated Community 6/7 (20% higher than average)" or "You rated Deal Quality & Volume 4/7 (15% lower than average)"

🔥 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: 125 Deals, 91 Networks.

Builders + Backers | AI-powered venture studio platform

Participating Group: Keystone Investing

Builders + Backers is developing an AI-powered venture studio that enables everyday entrepreneurs to validate ideas, run rapid experiments, and launch ventures with sophistication previously available only in elite startup ecosystems. The platform is built on a proprietary dataset from thousands of founder conversations and battle-tested venture-building methodology. The company recently raised capital with Keystone Investing serving as lead investor, joined by members from their DC, Austin, and St. Louis chapters. Funds will support scaling the platform to reach underserved builders nationwide.

Donna Harris | Arlington, VA | December 2025 | Source

Solaris Endovascular | Next-gen covered stents for dialysis and vascular disease

Participating Group: Keiretsu Forum Northwest

Solaris Endovascular is developing the first self-expanding covered stent platform that releases drugs directly at the treatment site for dialysis access and peripheral vascular disease. This drug-eluting approach addresses edge restenosis, a leading cause of stent failure. With more than 13,000 units sold globally, the company recently announced investment from Keiretsu Forum Northwest, Dan Conley of New Jersey Angels, Dr. Paol Strange, and strategic partner Scitech Medical into a $5 million convertible note round. Funds will expand the team to advance clinical and regulatory pathways.

Randy Hubbell | Dallas, TX | December 2025 | Exclusive

myBiometry | Remote chronic condition monitoring platform

Participating Group: SideCar Angels

myBiometry is developing a platform to remotely monitor patients with chronic conditions, initially focusing on asthma management. The company's patented sensor measures airway inflammation through fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in breath, enabling biological assessment of attack risk, medication adherence, and environmental trigger exposure. The platform aggregates clinical and environmental risk factors to build personalized predictive models and delivers CDC-recognized self-management programs. SideCar Angels recently participated in the company's Series Seed-5 round.

Bryan Nolan | Boston, MA | December 2025 | Exclusive

📣 Have an Angel Deal to Announce?

🔖 Bookmarks

1. 📜 I’m Watching This Closely (And You Should Too): The House just passed the INVEST Act - the most significant bipartisan capital formation bill since the 2012 JOBS Act. Huge implications for founders and investors. Senate momentum is building, seems likely to become law soon.

2. 🥧 Pie Portions: Carta's latest shows founders own just 21% at IPO on average and breaks down where it all goes.

3. 🥪 Lunch Break Entertainment: Dan Toomey investigates what the heck Palantir actually does in 18 hilarious minutes. Get ready to laugh and learn.

🥇 The Nugget: My Top Takeaway from A Conversation with Brook Stroud

Consumer brands: amazing for lifestyle, TOUGH for VC 💼

Observation: Entrepreneurs love launching consumer brands. And newer investors like investing in them.

Why? They're tangible, exciting, and feel achievable.

But Brook explained firsthand why they rarely deliver venture-scale returns. The exit landscape has fundamentally shifted in recent years: Coca-Cola once paid premium multiples for brands like Zico Coconut Water and dozens of others, but has since sold most of them off. Other acquirers wrote down "crazy multiples" on deals like Ballast Point Brewing after discovering that regional success doesn't automatically translate nationwide.

The economics in the space are brutal: brands need high gross margins after distributor cuts, sustainable customer acquisition costs, and play a "real estate game" where getting into a fridge means "kicking someone else out" and proving they can move more product than whatever occupied that three-inch slot before.

Possible to roll a successful Angel/VC strategy focused on consumer brands? Sure.

But it’s not the “layup” that it often looks like at first.

Takeaway: When evaluating a consumer deal, ask yourself: Is this founder building for a $100M+ exit or a generational lifestyle brand? Those are two completely different strategies, and venture capital only works for one of them.

Want more? Check out my full conversation with Brook 👇

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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