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Athlete equity startup raises $1M, AI is super bad at Pokémon, and how angel investing is evolving beyond the "black art"
🔥 Angel Deals of the Week | June 19, 2025
Andrew Kazlow
June 19, 2025 • Reading Time: 8 minutes
Happy Thursday.
Here are your angel deals of the week, some bookmarks I think you’ll enjoy, and the best nugget from my conversation with Patrick Gouhin, CEO of Angel Capital Association.
🔥 Angel Deals of the Week
🤝 Recent funding rounds from angel networks. I have not personally vetted these deals and am sharing for informational purposes only. Have one to announce? Reply to this email.
🤖 Deal summaries generated using dealmemo.ai.
🧾 Check out every deal we’ve tracked here.
Gridflow | Energy storage for grid stability
Participating Group: NM Angels
Gridflow is developing lithium-sulfur hybrid flow battery technology for distributed grid energy storage. Their architecture separates solid lithium metal anodes from liquid cathodes containing lithium salt and sulfur, with pump-controlled discharge rates. NM Angels recently announced an investment in the company, with funds primarily directed toward continuing battery development.
Charles Call and Geoffrey Aiken | Undisclosed Round Details | Albuquerque, New Mexico | May 2025 | Source
South Rampart Pharma | Nonopioid pain drug developer
Participating Group: Gulf South Angels
South Rampart Pharma is developing SRP-001, a nonopioid pain treatment targeting the central nervous system. The company completed Phase 1 FDA trials and received fast-track approval for Phase 2. After raising $9 million through grants and Ochsner Health investment, South Rampart is conducting a Series A round seeking $8.5 million for Phase 2 trials.
Dr. Hernan Bazan | $8.5M Series A | New Orleans, LA | June 2025 | Source
Finlete | Fan-funded athlete equity platform
Participating Group: North Texas Angel Network
Finlete operates a platform enabling athletes to raise capital from fans in exchange for equity in their future earnings. The company has attracted thousands of users and facilitated hundreds of thousands of dollars in athlete funding. Finlete recently completed an oversubscribed $1M angel round from Draper Startup House, North Texas Angel Network, and additional angel investors. The platform addresses a market previously accessible only to hedge funds and institutional investors, democratizing athlete investment opportunities for retail participants.
Rob Connolly, Max Eisenberg | $1M Angel Round | San Diego, CA | June 2025 | Source
🔖 Bookmarks
📊 Region Matters: Peter Walker's latest data dump shows West Coast seed rounds are 2x bigger than Midwest rounds. Go figure.
⚔️ VC Cage Match: Marc Andreessen and Bill Gurley recently hit separate podcasts to defend their wildly different approaches to venture.
🎮 AI Sucks at Playing Pokémon: Google's Gemini takes hundreds of hours to complete what kids finish way faster, plus it panics when Pokémon are dying.
In partnership with the Angel Capital Association
If you want to connect with experienced angel investors, stay ahead of trends, and tap into a wealth of resources, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) is the place to be. With 15,000+ members and $650M+ invested annually, ACA brings together the best minds in angel investing.
From Angel University’s practical education to the annual ACA Summit and exclusive reports, ACA equips members with the tools and connections to make smarter decisions. I’ve really enjoyed being part of this community, and I highly recommend it to anyone serious about angel investing.
🥇 The Nugget: My Top Takeaway from This Week’s Conversation with Patrick Gouhin
Angel investing is still largely a "black art" 🪄
Professional disciplines have centuries of accumulated knowledge behind them, but angel investing in its current form has existed for only ~30 years. We're still operating more on gut feel than proven science. Unlike engineering, medicine, or law - fields built on hundreds of years of tested principles - angel investing lacks the deep body of knowledge that creates consistent, predictable outcomes.
From Patrick: "If you compare that to angel investing, it's only been around for a couple of decades... So if you look at the overall body of knowledge, we don't have anywhere near what those more professional disciplines do. I think as any industry progresses, you move from that black art along the lines to a science based upon the data, based upon curated knowledge."
Takeaway: Next time you decide to write a check, pause and ask: "Am I relying mostly on gut feel, or do I have data-backed frameworks guiding this choice?"
Want more? Check out my full conversation with Patrick 👇
🧰 Toolkit
📚 A Standard Convertible Note: Use the Angel Capital Association's model convertible note created by leading investors and attorneys for balanced, market-tested terms.
🎙️ Live from Dallas: We're recording episodes for The Diligent Observer podcast live at DFW Startup Week's Future of Venture Forum on August 7, 2:15-6 pm. Register for free and come say hi!
✨ White Glove Ops: PitchFact handles your angel network’s busywork so you can focus on finding the next unicorn. Learn more.*
*A message from our sponsor.
Until Next Week 👋
Thanks for reading - have a great week.
-Andrew
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, could you do me a quick favor? Hit the "like" button or leave a comment with your thoughts. It may not seem like much, but it really helps me out a ton.
How did I do this week? |