In this episode of The Angel Next Door, Marcia talks with Kim Banham, a partner at Connetic Ventures. Kim and Connetic Ventures have brought a new look to VC firms by using Wendal, an AI platform that allows one to make data-driven decisions that remove all bias from investing. Kim starts off by telling us how she joined Connetic 7 years ago, with a love for funding early stage companies that could not get traditional bank loans, specifically companies building disrupting technology and platforms.
The team at Connetic Ventures, based in Covington, KY, realized that they needed to build a technology to change the way VC and funding was occurring and allow them to make smarter, unbiased decisions to be successful in early-stage investments. Now every company that applies for funding through Connetic first goes through Wendal, which they call their ‘junior analyst’. Kim explains how Wendal works, asking every founder the same questions, eliminating any bias of age, race, or gender, and giving each company a star rating to allow the application process to move quickly. Connetic is able to respond to applicants within 7 business days and invest in as little as 2-3 business days after the first call with the founder. To date, they have invested in about 100 companies with 64% of the founders being female or a minority, which is about 10 times higher than the industry norm, without that metric being a specific goal of the firm.
Kim goes on to explain how they use a personality assessment through Wendal called TeamPrint, which tells them how each founder and leadership team member is wired. The platform is able to provide feedback on the potential of how successful the company could be, again without bias. Every founder that applies for funding (about 4500 so far) is provided this feedback so they can make more informed decisions on who to hire, what leadership gaps need to be filled, and in which roles each member of their team would be best suited for the company’s success.
Kim encourages all founders of early-stage companies to apply, reiterating that every company receives the data and feedback from Wendal, despite whether they receive funding.
Finally, Marcia and Kim discuss the importance of time for early-stage companies, as founders often spend a great amount of time fundraising when they should be growing the business. Connetic Ventures and Wendal are working to minimize the time spent on fundraising, eliminating any bias from that process, and allowing access to capital for all founders. Tune in for some great insight on how new technology is changing the way entrepreneurs can receive capital, while providing real data to help them be more successful!
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