Northbrook, IL (October 1, 2012) – Cornerstone Angels, a private membership-based investment network of high net-worth individuals and families has announced that with its two most recent investments in September, Cornerstone has now funded 8 companies within calendar year 2012.  Most recently, Cornerstone invested in the Series A funding round for Intellihot Green Technologies, Inc., a smart tankless water heater company based in Galesburg, IL as well as the Series C funding round for Agrivida, an industrial biotechnology company based in Cambridge, MA.

Cornerstone typically sees in excess of 250 deals a year which are proprietary sourced though its membership, and extensive nationwide network.  Cornerstone has established strong relationships with investors and entrepreneurs across the country and is active in reviewing, co-investing, and syndicating with other parties.

The 26 portfolio companies of Cornerstone have in aggregate across their history, both before and after Cornerstone’s participation, raised in excess of $1.6 Billion.  A partial listing of co-investors in Cornerstone portfolio companies include: Amerindo Investment Advisors, Baker Capital, Bright Capital, Cardinal Partners, DAG Ventures, DCM, DFJ, HLM Venture Partners, Independence Equity, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Millenium Private Equity, New Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Palo Alto Investors, Presidio Ventures, Qatar Holdings, Sumitomo Corporation, Sequoia Capital, Tudor Ventures, Trident Capital, Worldview Technology Partners, and US Venture Partners.

According to Cornerstone Angels Founder and Managing Director Michael C. Gruber, “I am excited that the members of Cornerstone have been so active within 2012 to date.  We continue to attract a strong amount of quality deal flow and have been attracting increasing amount of individuals and families interested in joining Cornerstone to participate in our investment activities.  We have a strong portfolio and are optimistic that our companies will continue to make strong progress against their business plans into 2013.”

Cornerstone and its members have experienced a number of notable acquisitions and IPOs over the past few years, which includes the acquisition of SmartCells by Merck, the sale of Force10 to Dell Computer, the sale of RMI to Netlogic, and the IPO for Amyris, Inc.

Cornerstone Angels is a private membership-based investment organization composed of successful executives, entrepreneurs, and investors who seek to provide financial capital and mentorship to early-stage companies.  Cornerstone Angels through its strong relationships attracts in excess of 250 deals annually for investment consideration.  The group focuses on early stage private equity opportunities, but also actively considers a range of later stage and opportunistic investments as well.

Cornerstone Angels meets on a monthly basis By Invitation Only in Chicago, IL, while attracting investor and company interest and participation nationwide.  Cornerstone has recently re-opened up its private membership to a select group of individuals and families for participation.

For more information: www.cornerstoneangels.com

Contact: Cornerstone Angels, 2100 Sanders Road, Suite 170, Northbrook, IL  60062

Michael C. Gruber, 847.739.0100, michael@cornerstoneangels.com

Northbrook, IL (October 1, 2012) – Cornerstone Angels, a private membership-based investment network of high net-worth individuals and families has announced it has participated in the Series A funding round for Intellihot Green Technologies, Inc., a smart tankless water heater company based in Galesburg, IL

Intellihot Green Technologies Inc., based in Galesburg, IL, designs and manufactures intelligent water heating systems.  The Intellihot system incorporates advanced control logic, sensors, remote monitoring, self-cleaning and self-learning capabilities, which combined with other patent-pending features enable instant and continuous hot water.

According to Cornerstone Angels Founder and Managing Director Michael C. Gruber, “Intellihot is an incredibly exciting company given that it has developed a highly innovative solution to address issues surrounding our growing water and energy usage.  The company is targeting a huge market with an elegantly engineered solution that provides a clearly compelling economic return.  Lastly, the company is targeting commercial and industrial users who do not have another viable alternative solution.”

Water heaters are major contributors to global problems of wasted energy and wasted water.  Today’s conventional heaters keep large tanks of water hot even when the water is not being used, and people waste significant amounts of water by running the faucet until hot water arrives.  Inefficient water heaters account for $19 billion annually in wasted energy costs in the U.S. alone based on a DOE study .  Intellihot will be able to address this tremendous problem and has demonstrated its ability to save customers 20-40% in energy savings.

Sri Deivasiamani, CEO of Intellihot, stated that he is excited to add Cornerstone to his investor base given the level of expertise and experience within its membership base.  I look forward to their ongoing support to accelerate our growth.”

Cornerstone joins Independence Equity I, LP, Central Illinois Angels, and other high net worth individuals as shareholders in the Series A round.

Cornerstone Angels is a private membership-based investment organization composed of successful executives, entrepreneurs, and investors who seek to provide financial capital and mentorship to early-stage companies.  Cornerstone Angels through its strong relationships attracts in excess of 250 deals annually for investment consideration.

Cornerstone Angels meets on a monthly basis By Invitation Only in Chicago, IL, while attracting investor and company interest and participation nationwide.  Cornerstone has recently re-opened up its private membership to a select group of individuals and families for participation.

For more information: www.cornerstoneangels.com

About Intellihot Green Technologies

Intellihot Green Technologies Inc., based in Galesburg, IL, designs and manufactures intelligent water heating systems that enable significant water and energy savings.  The Intellihot tankless water heaters are the first condensing tankless gas water heaters designed and assembled in the USA.  The Intellihot system incorporates advanced control logic, sensors, remote monitoring, self-cleaning and self-learning capabilities, which combined with other patent-pending features enable instant and continuous hot water. For more information, visit: www.intellihot.com

Contact: Cornerstone Angels, 2100 Sanders Road, Suite 170, Northbrook, IL  60062

Michael C. Gruber, 847.739.0100, michael@cornerstoneangels.com

Cornerstone Angels Founder, Michael Gruber, shall be speaking on ACG Chicago’s panel on ‘Building the Next Gazelles: from Early Funding to Emerging Growth’ on June 26 in downtown Chicago.

For registration and further details please follow this link: Register Here

Here are some details on the event:

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012
Building the Next Gazelles: From Early Funding to Emerging Growth

11:30 AM – 1:15 PM

The Standard Club
320 S. Plymouth Ct.
Chicago, IL

Building the Next Gazelles:
from Early Funding to Emerging Growth

Chicago’s entrepreneurs are finding new capital in the rapidly developing angel networks, new talent and mentorship in the expanding incubator spaces and many are now looking for next stage investment/exit expertise to join the gazelles in the middle market. Join us to meet some leaders in this early stage investment community and better understand where you fit into this new growth dynamic.

To view the newsletter please follow this link: Newsletter #2 – 2012 Investments and Other Activities

Northbrook, IL (June 11, 2012) – Cornerstone Angels, a private membership-based investment network of high net-worth individuals and families has announced the addition of Credit Suisse as a new corporate sponsor and partner.

According to Cornerstone Angels Founder and Managing Director Michael C. Gruber, “Credit Suisse is a great addition to our organization.  The firm has had an extensive history in managing wealth for successful families, and for providing great advice and financial capabilities to entrepreneurs and their companies.  We look to take advantage of being able to leverage the resources of their global capabilities, along with the strong support of their local Chicago-based professionals.”

Credit Suisse is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries. The bank is organized into three divisions, Investment Banking, Private Banking, and Asset Management.  Credit Suisse is one of the Top 5 largest managers of wealth globally measured by assets under management.  The company has both a Northbrook and Chicago office within IL.

Cornerstone Angels through its strong relationships attracts in excess of 250 deals annually for investment consideration.  The group will lead as well as co-invest alongside other parties.  Cornerstone has already participated in 5 financings to date in 2012.  Cornerstone’s 26 portfolio companies have raised in excess of $1.5 Billion in aggregate capital.

Cornerstone Angels meets on a monthly basis By Invitation Only in Chicago, IL, while attracting investor and company interest and participation nationwide.

About Cornerstone Angels

Cornerstone Angels is a private membership-based investment organization composed of successful executives, entrepreneurs, and investors who seek to provide financial capital and mentorship to early-stage companies.  Cornerstone has a portfolio of over 26 companies in which its members have invested.

Cornerstone Angels looks to expand its relationships and partnerships with select investors and service companies where strong value can be provided to both our companies as well as our investor members.

Cornerstone has recently re-opened up its private membership to a select group of individuals and families for participation.

www.cornerstoneangels.com

Contact: Michael C. Gruber, 847.739.0100, michael@cornerstoneangels.com

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Please click on the following link for business update from Fisker Automotive, issued on 28th May, 2012. Inaugural Business Update

Cornerstone Angels Managing Director, Michael Gruber, shall be speaking at the Opal Financial Group’s Emerging Manager’s Summit on May 31, 2012. He is speaking at the investment conference in Chicago as part of the panel Private Equity Outlook: Do Emerging Managers Have an Edge?

More details can be found about the summit at the following link: Emerging Manager’s Summit

Cornerstone Angels founder Michael Gruber shall speak on the Green Building Panel at the Energy Investment Forum in Austin, TX, with such conference taking place January 25-26. Gruber’s panel will discuss topics relating to green building materials, energy efficiency, and exciting developments in lighting, material, building management systems and demand & supply response systems.

For further details on the conference see the following link. Energy Investment Forum

Cornerstone Angels Founder and Managing Director, Michael Gruber was a speaker at Efactor’s ‘Angel Investing: The Inside Scoop – Chicago’ held in downtown Chicago on December 15.

Michael was among a group of Angel Investors and CEOs/Founders who spoke about Angel  Investing in Chicago. For more details on the event and future Efactor events please follow the link. Efactor Presents : Angel Investing

EFactor, the world’s largest entrepreneurial community, provides resources that every small business owner needs: funding, knowledge, gain revenue and save cost. At EFactor, entrepreneurs exchange ideas with experts, receive exclusive discounts on business tools, interact with potential partners or clients, and discover funding for their startups.

Cornerstone Angels Founder and Managing Director, Michael Gruber has been selected to be a Mentor at Founder Institute’s upcoming program in Chicago.

The Founder Institute is a global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through their four month pre-seed incubator program, entrepreneurs can launch their company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs, while not being required to quit their day jobs. Their unique Bonus Pool also shares equity upside with all participants, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great startups can flourish. More information on the program is available here.

The Founder Institute carefully recruits approximately 25 Mentors per Semester, who are normally the CEO or founder of a successful startup. The Mentors are selected based on their ability to convey lessons learned on a topic in the curriculum and help participating Founders by sharing their relevant experiences. Mentors are accessible to Founders in the program during the sessions and through email. The shared equity upside of each Semester encourages supportive and collaborative relationships with the Mentors.