Mexican Beauty Brand Raises $4M, HNW Investors Put 12% into Private Equity, and the Case for Starting in a Down Market

Happy Thursday. In case you missed it, yesterday we released the first quarterly edition of the Angel Network Pulse featuring 60 angel network deals from 48 investor groups.

In today’s issue:

• Angel Deals of the Week | 170 Deals, 103 Networks

  • First time featured this week: IrishAngels

• Bookmarks I think you’ll enjoy

• The best nugget from my conversation with 35-board veteran and former Stanford endowment manager, Curtis Feeny.

🔥 Angel Deals of the Week

Angel funding rounds announced in recent weeks, compiled from public sources or via direct announcement. 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.

📊 Angel Network Investment Tracker: 170 Deals, 103 Networks.

NOPALERA | Mexican beauty brand, body and fragrance

Participating Groups: Alamo Angels

Nopalera is a modern Mexican beauty and lifestyle brand offering fragrances, bath and body, hair care, and candles centered on the nopal (prickly pear) cactus. Founded by Sandra Velasquez in San Antonio in 2020, the brand sells through Nordstrom, Credo, Ulta Mexico, Ulta Middle East, and Mecca Australia. The company recently closed a $4 million Series A led by Morgan Stanley's Next Level Fund and L'ATTITUDE Ventures, with participation from Alamo Angels, Sixty8 Capital, and Portfolia, to fund retail expansion.

Sandra Velasquez | $4M Series A | San Antonio, TX | March 2026 | Source

ImmuneBridge | Allogeneic cell therapy manufacturing platform

Participating Group: Sand Hill Angels

ImmuneBridge is developing a manufacturing platform for allogeneic cell therapies (treatments built from donor cells rather than each patient's own cells) that addresses two core production challenges: inconsistent donor cell performance and stem cells losing therapeutic versatility during replication. The company's proprietary small molecule, IBR403, and machine-learning donor screening system together allow, according to ImmuneBridge, production of thousands of doses per donor versus tens for most competitors. The San Francisco biotech recently closed a $7.7 million second seed round led by NFX, with participation from Sand Hill Angels, to expand partner access to its platform.

Dr. Nina Horowitz | $7.7M 2nd Seed | San Francisco, CA | March 2026 | Source

Q-rounds | Hospital rounds scheduling and notification app

Participating Group: Gopher Angels, IrishAngels

Q-rounds is developing a SaaS platform that integrates with hospital electronic health records to notify nurses and family members in real time when to expect physicians during daily rounds, the brief bedside meetings where care decisions are discussed. The company says 50,000 families have used the app and that nurse and family attendance at rounds has tripled at its pilot site. Q-rounds recently closed a $1.8 million round from Bread & Butter Ventures, Gopher Angels, IrishAngels, Discovery Capital, and Groove Capital to expand to at least 12 additional hospitals.

Michael Pitt | $1.8M | Minneapolis, MN | March 2026 | Source

📣 Have an Angel Deal to Announce?

🎙️ See You at the ACA Summit on Tuesday

The ACA Summit kicks off Tuesday in Westminster, CO. I'll be at The Diligent Observer table all week recording podcast interviews and short video clips. Want to be on the show? If you're in the room, find me and answer one question: "What's working at your angel group right now that more groups should imitate?" No prep, 2-5 minutes.

Wednesday morning we're also doing a fun run at 6:00am before sessions kick off. 2.2 miles, easy pace, donuts. Meet in the lobby at 10600 Westminster Blvd, and RSVP so we know to expect you.

P.S. Not registered for the Summit yet? There’s still time. Use code “DO200” and save $200.

🔖 Bookmarks

1. 📈 Bigger Net Worth → Bigger Private Bets: New data from Long Angle shows the average HNW investor allocates 12% into private company equity, and that number only grows with net worth.

2. 📊 What's the Right SAFE Valuation Cap? → It depends. Carta data from 6,617 companies shows post-money SAFE caps can range wildly; from $6M to $16M on the same $1M raise.

3. 💸 Put the Discount Gun Down: Great piece from Tugce Erten at a16z on five things AI app founders keep getting wrong on pricing.

🥇 The Nugget: My Top Takeaway from A Conversation with 35-board Veteran Curtis Feeny

“You can see who's swimming naked when you drain the lake.”🏊

Curtis entered two different markets at the worst possible time - Oklahoma City real estate during the 1983 energy bust, and Silicon Valley venture right after the dot-com bubble burst.

Both turned out to be career-defining advantages.

Takeaway: Feel like the market is against you? Keep going - it might just become one of your strongest advantages. The rigor and patterns developed in tough markets compounds over time in ways that undisciplined “frothy” habits never do.

Want more? Check out my full conversation with Curtis 👇

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

🛠️ We Run Angel Groups So You Can Lead Them

In case you didn't know: alongside The Diligent Observer, I run an outsourced operations service for angel networks. Screening, communications, newsletters, platform management, and more. The stuff that either isn't getting done or shouldn't be done by you.

We serve 4 groups today representing 200+ angels and $5M+ deployed last year. We're expanding and have space to serve 2 new groups in Q3.

Need help running your investor network? Let’s chat.

Until Next Week 👋

Thanks for reading - have a great week.

-Andrew

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