Investments

INVESTMENT CRITERIA

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Generally, our investing members are most interested in startups that could generate venture-scale returns, and they have expressed a preference for companies that meet the following criteria:

  1. US-based companies whose value proposition is enabled by innovative software or hardware technologies.
  2. Companies that are raising no more than US $2M, with a maximum pre-money valuation (or pre-money cap, if raised on a convertible note) of US $10M.
  3. One or more investors with relevant domain expertise have already committed capital to the company, or a US-based venture capital firm is leading the round.

INVESTMENT PROCESS

If you are interested in seeking investments from SA&E members, please send a summary to submission@stanfordaande.com. All investment opportunities go through the following process:

  1. Initial qualification by the SA&E investment committee. This step may involve email exchanges, or a phone call / video chat / in-person meeting depending on the nature of the opportunity.
  2. Pitch meeting. The company presents to SA&E members who are interested in learning more about the opportunity.
  3. Due diligence. If at least two SA&E members are interested in investing in the company, SA&E would coordinate the due diligence process, focusing on the key questions identified by the members.
  4. Terms discussion and closing. If all goes well, the investing members would proceed to discuss investment terms with the company and work towards closing the transaction individually. If the company has already received a term sheet from a lead investor by this time, the members would often choose to invest under the same terms.
  5. Information rights letter. The company grants information rights to the SA&E leadership team such that the group can forward management updates to the members who have invested in the company.

Unless the company objects (such as wishing to remain in stealth mode), the company logo is listed on the SA&E website. A company is considered part of the SA&E portfolio if it has received investments from at least two SA&E members.