Wastewater tech attracts Texas Angels, $2.4B acqui-hire drama, and a counterintuitive tip for rookie angels

Happy Thursday.

Know someone who would kill it running angel groups? Send them my way - I’m hiring a Strategic Angel Operations Director (applications closing this week).

In today’s issue:

• Angel Deals of the Week

• Bookmarks I think you’ll enjoy

• The best nugget from my conversation with Eric Alfuth, President of Houston Angel Network and Managing Partner of Caymont Ventures

• Exclusive opportunity for angel network leaders

🔥 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.

Green Steel Environmental | Clean wastewater treatment tech

Participating Groups: Cowtown Angels

Green Steel Environmental is developing patented tech that uses non-hazardous steel slag, a waste byproduct from steel manufacturing, to replace hazardous chemicals in wastewater treatment. The company targets municipal and industrial clients within the phosphorus removal chemical market, offering comparable performance with a superior cost structure through outsourced manufacturing and streamlined logistics. Cowtown Angels announced a recent investment this week.

Jonathan Teaford | Boulder, CO | July 2025 | Source

SinuSauna | Heated air respiratory device

Participating Groups: VisionTech

SinuSauna has developed a heated dry air therapy device that delivers 130°F air for natural congestion relief, targeting the market for cough and cold symptom management. The device provides 20-minute treatment cycles as an alternative to nasal sprays and irrigation methods, serving frequent cold sufferers, travelers, medical professionals, and allergy sufferers. The company launched from Indianapolis' Boomerang Ventures and recently secured over $140,000 from VisionTech's angel investor network.

Nancy Wright | Indianapolis, IN | May 2025 | Source

Exonicus | Trauma simulation tech

Participating Group: Latvian Business Angels Network (LatBAN)

Exonicus develops augmented reality trauma training for defense and emergency medical services, serving NATO special operations forces, the U.S. Army, and training centers across Europe. The company's Trauma Simulator provides AI-powered training scenarios for combat medics, first responders, and healthcare professionals, reducing training costs from $250 to $1.48 per person. Exonicus recently secured ~$92,000 from LatBAN, with funds slated to support further development and market expansion into Europe and the USA.

Sandis Kondrats | Riga, Latvia | June 2025 | Source

🔖 Bookmarks

1. 🍵 Here’s the Tea on the Windsurf Drama: AI coding startup went from expecting a $3B OpenAI acquisition to Google poaching ONLY the exec team and IP for $2.4B, leaving employees behind until Cognition's $300M rescue. Let’s just say the tech community is upset.

2. 👁️ Human Intervention in the Self-Driving Company: Thoughtful take from Nikunj Kothari on why taste, judgment, and ethics become priceless when execution costs nothing.

3. 🚀 That's One Heck of a Rocket Ship: Lovable hits unicorn status in 8 months with 2.3M users and $75M ARR. What a world.

🥇 The Nugget: My Top Takeaway from a Conversation with Eric Alfuth

New Angels: Don't invest for six months 🚫

New angels should resist the urge to write the first check immediately. Everything will look amazing when you're starting out, but that's exactly why it’s so important to pump the brakes. Take time to listen to pitches, observe diligence processes, and get exposed to the ecosystem before committing capital.

Takeaway: If you're new to angel investing, commit to a six-month observation period where you attend pitch events, join diligence calls, and study deals without investing. Use this time to calibrate and build some pattern recognition before starting to put real money at risk.

Want more? Check out my full conversation with Eric 👇

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

📢 Angel Group Leaders: Need More Qualified Member Leads?

Every week, hundreds of angel investors read this newsletter. Many are interested in joining an angel group but don't know where to start. So, I’m helping them out.

What group leaders get: Pre-qualified leads for prospective membership.

Pilot program: First 5 leads completely free.

No commitments yet, I’m just soft circling interest. I expect to launch the program in ~2 weeks on Monday 8/4, hit the link to be included.

P.S. This only applies to subscribers who opt in. Everyone else - your info stays with me.

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.

If you’re finding this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend, and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. You can also find me on LinkedIn and X.